


Anything Could Happen

by meetmebackat221bbakerstreet



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: After the battle, Harry Potter - Freeform, M/M, but there's fluff, draco is not a huge dick anymore, harry is still a good person, theres no porn, trust me it was for the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-18
Updated: 2014-09-18
Packaged: 2018-02-16 07:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 49,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2261844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meetmebackat221bbakerstreet/pseuds/meetmebackat221bbakerstreet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Potter ended the War seven years ago, but people still live in fear of Draco Malfoy. Draco is a Potions Master and doesn't talk to anybody, accept his clients. Harry runs into Draco after those seven long years and vows to help Draco clear his name. Harry learns more about Draco than he ever thought he would and learns that the man whom he once considered an enemy, is now something more than just a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anything Could Happen

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to read this story. But I ended up writing it instead.

Normally, Harry Potter would have turned heads walking through the streets of Diagon Alley. He could hear the whispers about him being the Boy-Who-Lived and the Chosen One. He remembered the time where he could barely walk anywhere in the wizarding world without someone coming up to him and shaking his hand. Even more so after Harry defeated the Dark Lord seven years ago.

Things had changed drastically over those seven years. For one, Harry could walk into Diagon Alley now and only get the occasional sideways glance. His fame had long died out, even as one of the best Aurors the department has seen. Even The Daily Prophet got tired of writing stories about Harry Potter and the next wizard criminal he managed to chase down. But Harry didn’t mind his lack of fame, he actually preferred it.

While most students at Hogwarts thought that Harry loved all of this attention and fame, the exact opposite was true. Harry never asked to be born or for his parents to sacrifice their lives for him or for him to defeat the Dark Lord when he couldn’t even walk yet. He most certainly didn’t ask for the Dark Lord to come back. The Prophet liked to glamorize Harry’s situation, claiming that he was “The Chosen One” and some type of hero. Harry never felt like a hero, he only did what he knew he had no other choice but to defeat Voldemort. The added attention was just a side effect to everything.

It was true, that Harry Potter was a victim of circumstance. Even if there was a prophecy written about him, he gave no conscious effort to be The Harry Potter. He was just Harry and that was just fine with him.

Things had changed ever since the Battle. He and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, went back to Hogwarts for their final year. Harry knew he would have been handed an Auror job straight away, but he didn’t want to receive special treatment. And he didn’t want to dive into defeating more Dark Wizards after he just defeated Voldemort. After Hogwarts, him and Ron went onto Auror training while Hermione got a job in the Ministry in the Department Magical Law Enforcement. They were all fond of her and Harry knew she would soon be making it all the way to the top of the ranks there.

The only thing that never survived was Harry’s relationship with Ginny, Ron’s younger sister. Luckily, the breakup was mutual, they both wanted to go into two separate directions. Harry wanted to be an Auror and Ginny wanted to travel and become a journalist. Harry came to realize that though he loved Ginny very much, he was never much in love with her. They both parted on good terms and still kept in contact.

Ron and Hermione married three years out of Hogwarts. Their wedding was actually held at the Burrow where family and friends were invited. Hermione’s parents seemed to be awe-struck the entire time, being surrounded by magic. Ron’s father, Arthur, took an enormous interest into them and asked them all kinds of questions about Muggle technology. He had never seen Arthur look so excited in his life.

Now Ron and Hermione were finally expecting a baby girl on the way. On the very same day they told Harry the news, they also asked him to be the godfather. Harry has never been emotional but when they asked him, he couldn’t help but tear up at the request of his best friends. Harry was also glad that he was going to be a part of their family. While most people tend to disappear when they have kids, their request insured Harry that they were still going to all stick together and that made him the most happy he had been in his life.

Everyone’s lives were now falling together. Neville was the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts and married to Hannah Abbott. Harry always personally thought him and Luna were going to end up together but Neville seemed very happy with Hannah. Luna was married to Rolf Scamander, and they seemed to be very happy as well. Bill and his wife even just gave birth to a daughter, Victoire.

There was one person, however, whose name he had not heard spoken for years. Malfoy. His whole family went away after the Battle and were not seen from again. Until Harry just happened to read the Prophet one morning and saw that Lucius Malfoy had died, trying to escape Auror’s who had been after him for years.

Harry had heard what these Aurors were still on the hunt for the Malfoy’s. They learned that Draco and his mother went into hiding while Lucius took off and tried to run. Harry never went on these searches personally but even the Auror Department had gossip and he heard the whispers every time they had gotten close to getting him. The whole Department went insane when they heard he was finally dead. But Harry didn’t feel joy or that a justice had been done. It would have been better to see him in Azkaban but there was nothing Harry could do now.

In light of Lucius being killed, the charges had been dropped against his wife and Draco, finding new evidence that Lucius’ actions were his own and his family had no choice but to deal with those consequences. Harry agreed to this because he understood what it’s like to be born into a life that he didn’t ask for. All hatred for Draco Malfoy had ceased. He couldn’t blame him for growing up the way he did. If his father taught him from birth darkness, then that’s all he would know.

The last he heard of Malfoy was that he was a Potion’s Master now and that he was the best that the Wizarding World has seen in ages. He was hardly surprised though, he remembers Potions Class at Hogwarts and admits that Draco was always the head of that class.

Harry never thought he would run into Draco Malfoy for the rest of his life.

* * *

 

“I’m going home, mate. It’s late. You should probably get going home, too.” Ron clapped him on his back. Harry was nose deep in paper work and it was past midnight but nowhere near finished.

“I have to finish this. I’ve been putting it off for weeks now.” Harry sighed and rubbed his temples, trying to ease the headache that’s been steadily growing for the past few hours.

Ron chuckled, “That’s what you get for not filing a report when you first get back from a run. Try not to stay up too much later, yeah? We need you functioning to help with the baby room.”

Harry winced, he had forgotten he promised Ron early this morning he would come and help out around their house tomorrow afternoon. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now all he wanted to do the next day was lie in bed and sleep. But he had promised and he wasn’t about to back out on them now. Especially since the baby was due in just a few weeks.

“Yeah, Ron. I won’t be here too late. I’m just going to finish this case up and I’ll head home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Harry gave a weak, but genuine smile.

Ron clapped him one more time on the shoulder, “Thanks, mate. Goodnight.”

Harry sighed and laid his head on the desk. He was exhausted and just wanted to sleep but the reports were due by the end of the week and he knew if he was going to get them all done, he needed to start now. He wanted to get more done today but he had to go out on an emergency call and assist on chasing down some criminal. While it didn’t take very long, he did leave with a few scratches, particularly the one on his left cheek that honestly looked worse than what it really was. His boss said he could take the day off but he knew he couldn’t afford that and spend the rest of the day (and night) doing paperwork.

Harry had his eyes closed and was drifting off when he heard the door to the Department open. Harry knew he was the only one left in here and he immediately went for his wand in his jacket pocket. He stood up out of his desk and looked out into the hallway. He saw a dark, slim figure coming his way. Harry didn’t know who this was but didn’t cast any spells until he was absolutely sure this was some sort of intruder.

To his surprise, as the figure drew closer, he could make out pale skin blue, piercing eyes and realized that he was face to face with no other than Draco Malfoy. He had black trousers on, with fancy dress shoes, a white button up and he was carrying a jacket, thrown over his arm. He also had some kind of vile in his other hand, which Harry concluded to be some sort of potion.

“Malfoy.” Harry said, in shock and lowered his wand to his side.

“Potter.” Malfoy replied, but not with the usual bite in his tone that he had when they were kids. In fact, Malfoy’s whole demeanor seemed to have change since their schooldays. While Malfoy used to look arrogant and like he was better than everyone, this Malfoy seemed to walk with confidence but didn’t have an ugly sneer to his face.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked.

“Your Head of Department contacted me a short while ago and wanted me to make him a sleeping potion. I know it’s late but I was in the area and thought I might try to see if anyone was still here.” Malfoy shrugged casually, looking anywhere but Harry’s eye.

Harry blinked, “Oh, right. Well, he went home for the night. But you could leave it on his desk. He’s always here before anyone else in the morning so no one should take it. I’ll show you where it’s at.” Harry gestured behind him and Malfoy gave a curt nod and moved to follow him.

Harry didn’t know what to make of this. He didn’t think he would ever see Draco Malfoy again. Not that he didn’t wonder what he was doing because he did occasionally, but he never thought they would cross paths. But here they were, walking calmly to Harry’s boss’ desk and no one throwing insults at each other. They weren’t even looking at each other the wrong way. While Harry was aware that this was all in the past, he couldn’t help but find it a bit odd.

After some twists and turns, they finally arrived at the desk, which was bigger and far more nicer than anyone’s in the entire department. Malfoy placed the potion on his desk and that is when it started to get very awkward indeed.

Malfoy was just staring at him, like he was trying to figure him out. Harry was trying to avoid eye contact but kept on meeting Malfoy’s eyes simply because they didn’t leave Harry’s face.

“What happened to your face?” Malfoy asked after that drawn out silence.

Harry’s hand flew to his face and rubbed at the scratch he received earlier that day, “Oh, today I was just chasing down some guy and right before we caught him, he punched me in a last chance to escape. He happened to be wearing a bloody sharp ring, too. It’s fine.”

Malfoy raised an eyebrow, “Have you looked at it since then?”

“Uh, no. I didn’t have the time.” Harry said, confused.

Malfoy stepped closer and squinted his eyes, as if to get a better look, “Well, you should have. That ring wasn’t just a ring, I think it was laced with some type of poison. The cut looks infected and it’s starting to blister.”

“What?” Harry’s eyes went wide and grabbed the mirror on the desk. Sure enough, he looked at the cut and it was just as Malfoy described. He had wondered why he hadn’t noticed it or maybe why Ron didn’t see it. But he remembered that Ron was standing on the other side of his desk, the side where the cut wasn’t facing him.

Harry sighed, “Great. Just what I needed.”

Malfoy stared for a second, “I can fix it. Come back to my place and I can brew up an antidote. I think the purpose of the ring is to attack silently without the persons knowing and then it will spread all over your body if you don’t catch it quick enough.”

Harry stood there, dumbfounded. Malfoy had just offered to help him. Never in a million years had Harry ever would have guessed that Malfoy would offer up his help.

“Well, Potter?” Malfoy smirked, clearly amused that he had rendered Harry speechless.

“Uh. Yeah. Yes. That would be … Great. Yeah, great. Let me just go back to my desk and get my things.” Harry said quickly, and walked passed Malfoy who still had an amused look on his face.

Back at his desk, he grabbed his wallet and put away the papers that he was supposed to finish tonight. He got a terrible feeling in his stomach, knowing he was going to have to finish them somehow by the end of the week but he guessed that taking care of a cut that’s going to get worse is a little more important.

“Alright, I think that’s everything.” Harry said, looking at his desk.

“Grab my arm, then.” Malfoy said, holding his arm out.

“What?” Harry said, shocked.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, “Where I live is too far to walk. It would be easier to apparate. Grab my arm, Potter.”

Harry didn’t say anything but nodded and stepped closer to Malfoy. He had grown a few inches since he last remembered him. He also smelled amazing and blushed at the thought of being so close to Malfoy. He was sure that he’s never willingly been in so much contact with him before.

Malfoy, clearly sensing his distress, smiled to himself and quickly thought of his house and disapparated with a flick of his wand.

Harry felt that usual twist in his stomach when he did when he traveled like this. He still wasn’t that fond of it but it did get him places faster. And it has gotten better since when he first started doing it. Now he only wants to slightly throw up as opposed to actually throwing up.

They arrived inside what looked like to be a small flat. They were standing at the entrance to Harry was able to see the full layout of the place. There was a black couch directly beside him, a coffee table placed in front with books and old Prophets on it. Then there was a kitchen directly in front of him, it was small but if it was just Malfoy living there, fine for one person. Then there was a hallway that probably led to Malfoy’s room all the way to the left side of the room.

Harry was surprised of how small this place was. He had been to Malfoy Manor and saw how extravagant Malfoy lived but this was actually no bigger than what Harry was living in himself right now.

“Not what you expected?” Malfoy said, that amused expression still on his face. It occurred to Harry that he probably looked like an idiot just staring at Malfoy’s flat and mentally cursed himself.

“Uh. Not really. But it’s… Nice actually.” Harry shrugged, as if the shock he had was only for a second when in reality, he was still quite surprised.

Draco chuckled, and to Harry’s surprise, didn’t sound dark or evil. But actually like Malfoy was having a laugh at the situation, “I guess that’s one way to put it. I like it, however. It’s just me so I don’t need that much space. But my rooms are much bigger for my work. Just down here.”

He walked towards the hallway and Draco followed. While the hallway was small, the room that Draco lead him to was very large. He had multiple cauldrons, most seeming to be brewing, on separate individual tables that had vials of different ingredients on them. In the back, there was a bookshelf that seemed to have reached its max capacity. And on the sides of the rooms were different ingredients all lined up. It was actually, very impressive in Harry’s opinion, that he did all of this in the comfort of his own home.

Malfoy hung his jacket on a rack next to the door. He gestured that Harry could do the same and immediately went to the other side of the room to grab one of the books on his shelves.

Harry shrugged off his jacket and took a few more steps into the room. Malfoy was already skimming a book, muttering something to himself. He then walked over to the shelves and started picking out different ingredients. Malfoy was obviously in his element so he stood there, with his hands in his pockets and watched Malfoy work.

Once he got all of the ingredients, he walked back to a cauldron that wasn’t brewing anything at the moment and started to begin. Malfoy looked up and beckoned Harry to come over to where he was. Slightly shocked, Harry went over there and stood on the opposite side of the table of where Malfoy was standing.

“I wanted you to see me make it, just to make sure you know I’m not poisoning it.” Draco said, as his hands were flying faster than Harry could keep up with.

“Uh, something tells me you aren’t going to poison it.” Harry said, and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Never stopping, Malfoy quirked an eyebrow, “How could you be so sure?”

“Honestly, I have no idea.” And Harry really didn’t. He had no reason to trust Malfoy. He had every reason not to, however. But something inside of him told him that if Malfoy wanted to kill him, this wouldn’t be the way he would do it.

“You have no reason to trust me, Potter. In fact, you really shouldn’t trust me.” said Draco, frowning.

“Do you want me not to trust you?” asked Harry, very confused.

Malfoy stayed silent for a moment as he measured something out and poured it into the cauldron, “No. I guess I’m just surprised you’re not accusing me of trying to poison you or you would want to make sure that that’s not what I’m doing.”

Harry sighed, “Listen, Malfoy. We’re not teenagers anymore. What happened back at Hogwarts doesn’t matter.”

Malfoy shook his head, “I don’t know how you can say that. But I guess it’s because for you, everything turned out alright. For me, Hogwarts is my personal hell.”

Harry stared at Malfoy in shock. He wasn’t making eye contact with Harry, mostly because of the potion he was making, but Harry knew it was because of what he had just said. It didn’t occur to Harry that maybe Malfoy was still damaged from everything that happened. His family was on the wrong side and the side that lost. Harry can’t imagine what it must be like to grow up the way he did. With a father as a Death Eater and him having no choice on his future. And now Malfoy has to try to figure out himself because he was always told what to do and how to think.

“I think of how I was back in school and I’m revolted at myself. I was cruel. I was selfish and I never cared about anyone else but myself. I was most of all, horrible to you because my father hated you. At first I didn’t understand why but as I grew older, I understood. My family worked for the Dark Lord and I became a Death Eater and some part of me thought that it was right. It took years for me to stop being the person that my father wanted me to be.” Draco said, hastily.

If the first confession put Harry off, this one blew his mind, the way Malfoy was able to confess all of that. Harry supposed that Malfoy just had a guilty mind and he couldn’t blame him. Everything Malfoy ever did back then was probably all in service to Voldemort and if that was Harry, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

“I..Look. I don’t know what I should say because despite what everyone else thought back then, I was never a hero. That was just some title someone gave to me because I did something on accident before I could even talk and it followed me around most of my life. Some people still say that. But I couldn’t help what happened to me. I never chose to have that prophecy to me about me. I never chose to be the only one that could defeat Voldemort. Just like you didn’t choose to be born into a family that serviced him.” said Harry.

Malfoy looked taken back and actually stopped working somewhere between Harry’s little speech. He looked down and his eyes seemed to be searching for something, “I am still accountable for everything I have done. It doesn’t change the fact I did what I did.”

“No, it doesn’t. But the fact that you can even admit to that, Malfoy, says a lot more about you than anything else. You grew up with a father who made you prejudice to anybody who was not a Pure-Blood, who put it in your brain to hate me and what choice did you have when you had to pay for your fathers mistakes and become a Death Eater? Even I know that no one can just refuse the Dark Lord and get away with it.” said Harry.

Malfoy was back to making the potion again and was moving faster than ever. Harry wondered if he would mess up somehow but he brushed that thought away quickly. Harry knew that Malfoy was one of the best Potions Master the Wizarding World has seen.

“But I know what you would have done, Potter. You would have gladly died before becoming a Death Eater. I was a coward. Just like my father.” Malfoy cursed himself.

Harry held up a hand, “Wait a moment. That’s exactly what I was talking about earlier. Everyone painted me the hero, Malfoy, everyone. Sometimes even the people I loved forgot I was just a teenager. I was going to lay down my life for the people I loved to save them. You became a Death Eater because you knew it was the only way to save your family. I get that. It took me awhile to get that because I was angry after the war for a bit, but I came to terms with everything.”

Malfoy sighed and picked up a rag to wipe his hands with, “The potion should take about thirty minutes. It was a simple one. That criminal that you chased was a lower-class one at best. Fancy something to drink?"

Harry blinked at the sudden subject change but didn’t push anything and nodded and followed Malfoy out back into his living room area.

Malfoy gestured for him to take a seat on the couch and he went and rummaged around in the kitchen and came out with a bottle of Fire Whiskey and two glasses. He sat down next to Harry and poured a class for himself and Harry.

Harry muttered a thanks and brought the glass to his lips and gladly welcomed the burning of the whiskey down his throat. He normally didn’t drink but he had had one hell of a day and a drink was welcomed.

They sat in silence before Malfoy spoke up once again, “How long did it take for you to get back to normal after the war?”

Harry wasn’t surprised at this question and was actually liking the fact that Malfoy was trusting him enough to talk about this. Harry didn’t have very many secrets and he didn’t mind talking to Malfoy about it, considering it seemed as though Malfoy needed it more than anyone.

“Probably about a full year before I could get a full nights sleep without waking up screaming. I went back to Hogwarts and I supposed that helped because I had my friends to confide in since we all went through it together. But I got… Paranoid, I guess I should say. I got worried that maybe I didn’t actually kill him and that he would come back. I just couldn’t believe it was actually over. I spent most of my life fighting him and then it was just all of a sudden, done. Then there was the anger and grieving over everyone I lost. That was the most difficult out of it all. But even to this day, I get the occasional nightmare. I’ve come to terms with that, though. What happened is still a big part of me but I don’t let it rule my life.” Harry finished and took another sip of his whiskey.

Malfoy nodded, “The war didn’t stop for me after you killed the Dark Lord. We had to run because there were Death Eaters after my father. Eventually, me and my mother found a place where we all could hide. But father was paranoid and only was able to last about a week before he took off. That was the last I saw of him. Then we found out he was killed and all our charges were dropped. I still get people who look at me like I shouldn’t be allowed to walk out on the streets but most people are too afraid of me to say anything.”

Harry shook his head, “Some people will let fear and anger rule their lives. You’re not a bad person. I’m sorry about your father, anyhow.”

Malfoy gave a snort, “You hated my father.”

Harry shrugged, “Yeah, he was a dick.”

Malfoy bursted out laughing, and had to put his glass down on the table. Harry wasn’t sure what was so funny but he smiled at the way Malfoy was laughing. He looked good with a smile on his face.

“Sorry, it’s just no one has got the guts to say that to me. Everyone always tip toes around the subject when my father gets mentioned and thinks I will kill them if they insult him. But I agree with you, Potter, my father was a dick. And yes, it doesn’t please me he’s dead but he still did things in his life that I cannot forgive. I love my father but I do not forgive him.” Malfoy said, picking up his glass again and taking a big gulp.

“That makes sense. And I’ve never been one to hold back what I think. Which got me more detentions than I dare to count but at Hogwarts. Especially when Umbridge was Headmaster.” Harry shuddered to think about her.

Malfoy winced, “It does not do me pleasure to say I liked that woman back then.”

Harry nodded, “I really don’t know how anyone could. She gave me a nice scar on the back of my hand.” Harry stretched out his hand in front of him. He could still read the faint, “I Must Not Tell Lies” that was engraved into his hand forever.

Malfoy scooted closer to Harry and read the scar on his hand, “Wow, what an evil bitch.”

Harry laughed and brought his hand down back to his side, “She was. That was just a bad year all around though. My connection with the Dark Lord was growing stronger and I had to deal with his rage the entire time.”

Malfoy shook his head, “I can’t believe that you shared a connection with him. I don’t know how you didn’t go mad.”

“I almost did. Somehow, I managed to survive. Like I always do. I really don’t know how I’m not dead by now.” Harry thought it was a miracle that he wasn’t dead, he had put himself into so many awful situations where he easily could have been killed.

“Me either. I honestly thought someone would have come killed me by now.” Malfoy shrugged lazily.

“Didn’t the Ministry offer you protection after you and your mum came out of hiding?” Harry asked.

Malfoy sighed, “Yes. I refused the protection but I ensured that nothing would happen to my mother. The Manor is probably one of the most protected places right now.”

“Why did you refuse the protection?”

Malfoy ducked his head, as if he was ashamed of something, “I didn’t want it, I suppose. When I got out of hiding, I didn’t know what to do with myself. For a couple months, I just hid in my flat and didn’t want to… Live really. Sometimes I would go out just to see if anyone would kill me so I could stop living with the guilt. But my mother came and visited my one day and saw how much of a mess I really was and helped me get back on my feet. I started brewing my own potions from home and it picked up a lot and now that’s what I do for a living.”

Harry was shocked to find out that Malfoy was practically suicidal at one point. He didn’t realize how screwed up Malfoy was from the war.

Harry didn’t say anything so Malfoy continued, “Some people think that it’s impossible I changed so much. But what I lost was enough to change anyone. Hiding away like that from everyone just made me realize that being powerful meant having people fear you. And having to kill, which I learned I couldn’t do, even if my own life would be taken if I didn’t. I was too young for everything that was forced upon me. Then I started growing up and how arrogant and foolish I was for once thinking that being like my father was something to be proud of. Everyone who wasn’t a Death Eater or just cruel, hated him. I figured out that that was not what I wanted. I wanted to have friends and people whom I could trust without living in paranoia but I don’t think I could ever have that.”

Harry had a strong urge to make a declaration to everyone that Draco Malfoy was not a bad person, and he had learnt his lesson and to stop being fools and grow up. Harry understood Malfoy more than anyone. How it is to grow up in situations beyond your control and to have a title thrust upon you. Most importantly, what it feels like to be too young to do what people asked of them.

“Malfoy. You know what, Draco. Draco,” Harry said firmly, he didn’t want to talk to Draco as if they were still schoolboys and spitting out each others last names, but as a human being, “Fuck them all, yeah? They don’t know rats arse about what happened to you. Maybe they never will. But there are going to be people who don’t understand that the war is all behind us. You deserve to live a happy life, whatever anybody else says. After all the hell you’ve had to go through when we were younger, you deserve to live a life that you choose, not one that’s chosen for you. I forgave you a long time ago but I never thought we would sit down to have this conversations so I’m telling you now: I forgive you. I understand why you feel guilty but it’s way past time to let go of it. See someone if you need to, hell I know I had to. But do things that make you happy and soon people will see that you are not your fathers mistakes.”

Harry took one last sip of his whiskey and set it down on the table firmly, as if to say what he just said was law. And he hoped Draco would take it that way. He knew he wasn’t some kind of therapist or healer but Draco didn’t deserve to letting this guilt rule his life.

Harry looked over at Draco, who was staring at him, his eyes wide and his hand gripping the glass so tight that his knuckles were turning white.

It took awhile for Draco to find his voice again, “Thank you, Harry.”

Harry could tell that even though he didn’t say much, those words held gratitude in them. Maybe that is all Draco needed to hear, that someone forgave him for everything he did and that he deserved to be happy. Harry’s friends and family always told him this after the war and it did help. He realized that Draco didn’t have friends after the war since he went into hiding. He didn’t have time to heal directly after like most people. Draco was doing all of his healing now and for some reason, Harry very much wanted to be a part of that.

Draco stood up suddenly, “Your potion should be done by now.” He walked around the coffee table and Harry followed him into the potions room.

He grabbed a ladle from the side of the cauldron and put it into a small vile and handed it over to Harry, “That should heal you right up.”

Harry took the vial from Draco and quickly drank it, knowing all too well that most positions did not have a pleasant taste.

Harry looked into the empty vial questioningly and wondered if it had worked because he had felt no different.

“You won’t feel anything. You will most likely wake up tomorrow with a faint scar.” Draco said, as if reading Harry’s mind.

Harry nodded, “Thank you.”

“Thank you, for uh, talking with me about all of this. I’m sorry I kind of just brought it up like that.”

“Not at all, if you ever need to talk about it, you can come to me. I really don’t mind. Or if you just want to hangout you know, as friends.” Harry shrugged casually.

“Friends?” said Draco, like he couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah, friends. I think that’s probably the most appropriate thing to call us.” said Harry, as if it was no big deal. But he knew Draco probably didn’t have very many friends at the moment.

“Okay. Friends,” Draco nodded, “It’s really late though. If you need to crash on my couch. that’s fine. I don’t mind. Unless you have someone waiting for you at home…?”

Harry laughed, “Me? No. Ginny and I broke up ages ago and I’ve dated here and there but, you know. No luck. But if you wouldn’t mind, yeah, I’ll take your couch, I really feel like I’m about to pass out. And I really don’t like to apparate. It makes me nauseous.”

Draco raised an eyebrow but merely nodded and went out the door and Harry followed. Draco got him a pillow and blanket for Harry on the couch.

“Thanks. So, how about you? I know you obviously aren’t living with anyone but are you seeing someone?” Harry asked as he took off his shoes.

Draco laughed and crossed his arms, “No. I dated this bloke a few months back but it turns out he had some past issues with my father and his own family and tried to kill me so I stopped dating.”

Harry didn’t know which one was more shocking: the fact that his date tried to kill him or the fact that Draco liked blokes. In the Wizarding World, it’s completely fine to be gay, or whatever. No one really thinks twice about it, much to Harry’s delight. But he remembered when he lived in the Muggle world and anyone who was gay was called a “fucking poof” and beaten up for it.

It looked as though Draco was waiting for some sort of retort to his sexuality but Harry was not going to give him that satisfaction, “You need to pick better men, mate."

Draco’s features seemed to relax, “Let me know if you know of any gay blokes who don’t have a personal vendetta against me or my father.”

Harry laughed even more, “Come on, not every bloke is out to get you. I’ve dated a few of them before and they didn’t date me because I was Harry Potter.”

That really seemed to shock Draco, his jaw completely hanging. Harry had to hold back a laugh. His sexuality wasn’t really a secret to anyone who personally knew him, he had realized his sexuality sometime after the war. He never really sat and thought about it much because he seemed to always be preoccupied with trying to save he world. 

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting that one.” Draco finally said.

Harry shrugged, “Most people don’t because I’ve only really been public with girls before. But I’m bisexual. I don’t think I knew it when I went to Hogwarts but one night, I was at a bar and me and this bloke hit it off and that was that. I dated a few more after that. And girls. But nothing ever really stayed. To be honest, I didn’t really expect you to be gay.”

“I’ve known I was gay since I was probably about fourteen. But my father being my father, I couldn’t tell him. I needed to produce an heir so being gay was well out of the question. At least now I don’t have to worry about that. My mum said she doesn’t care about me being able to produce an heir or not, she just wants me happy after everything.” Draco smiled at the mention of his mother.

“Good, as you should be. Lucky that people in the Wizarding World don’t care about such things. In the Muggle world, people go crazy if you’re not straight.” Harry shook his head.

“That’s idiotic. I’ll never understand the way they think.”

Harry just realized that the Malfoy’s weren’t fans of anything having to do with Muggles. He wondered…

“Just asking, are you still against Muggle borns or anything like that?” Harry felt like he needed to ask. He didn’t know if he could be friends with someone who still thought his best friend was a Mudblood.

Draco shook his head, “I have no reason to think that anymore, especially me. You were right when you said Harry, that we have no choice what we are born into. Your friend, Hermione Granger, she is the most clever witch that exists right now, I can’t deny that. And I hope one day I get to apologize to her for saying all those things to her while we are school.”

Harry smiled and breathes a sigh of relief, “You will. If you’re friends with me, you’ll be seeing her around.”

Draco smiled back, “I should be letting you go to bed. Goodnight, Harry.”

“Goodnight, Draco.”

Draco walked back into the hallway where his bedroom was.

Harry went and laid down on the couch. He really didn’t have any reason to stay here. He could have easily apparated back to his own flat, but he found that he didn’t want to be alone. Even if he and Draco were not in the same room, he felt better knowing someone was here. His flat got lonely sometimes and though he would never admit it out aloud, he stays at his office so late so he doesn’t have to endure that empty feeling his own flat has.

He thought about how tonight went and how he was one second, strangers with Draco Malfoy, to being friends with him. Draco changed in every way possible. Maybe he wouldn’t have believed it seven years ago but after everything he said tonight, it didn’t come as a surprise that Draco wasn’t the horrible person he once was. He understood that the war changed a lot of people, as it even changed Harry.

Harry didn’t know where this friendship would lead to. But he had felt more comfortable with Draco than he had been with anyone for a long time. One thing he was determined to do, however, was get people to see that Draco Malfoy was a good person, and he would do that even if it was the last thing he ever did.

* * *

Harry woke up not knowing where he was at, first. He heard noise coming from the kitchen and all of the events from the previous night came rushing in. Draco Malfoy visiting his department, Draco Malfoy healing him, Draco Malfoy pouring his heart out to Harry, and Draco Malfoy letting him sleep on his couch.

He blinked a few times, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes and reached over for his glasses on the coffee table and sat up on the couch. Draco must of heard him wake up because he turned around suddenly, “Morning. Sleep well?”

Harry had the sudden urge to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it all, “Yeah, actually I did. Thanks you for letting me sleep here.”

Draco shrugged, “It’s not a problem. The company was actually appreciated.”

Harry nodded to him and thought that Draco wasn’t kidding when he said he didn’t have any friends. Harry would go mad if he didn’t have anybody to talk to or to confide in. But at least now Draco had Harry and maybe he could get his friends to warm up towards Draco.

Harry looked at his watch and it was about ten in the morning, so he still had time before he needed to go to Ron and Hermione’s place. He got up from the couch and with a flick of his want, folded the blanket and set it on the arm of the couch. He stomach rumbled just at that moment, “I’m starving. I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “You should probably take better care of yourself. I don’t have much here, but there’s a cafe a few doors down from here, if you wanted to go eat there.”

Harry made a face at Draco’s mentioning he needs to take care of himself. He gets that talk from both Ron and Hermione. And from everyone else in the department. He was a grown man and very capable of taking care of himself. Sometimes he just forgets to eat but he always gets around to it eventually.

“I take care of myself fine. I was just stressed yesterday at work and I can never eat when I’m stressed. And that would be great. You coming, too?” asked Harry.

Draco seemed to look amused, which he often did around Harry, apparently, “Yes. I should eat something, too.”

“Alright, well, lead the way.” Harry motioned his hand towards the door.

Draco nodded and walked out the door and Harry followed. They were in a crammed hallway but went down a flight of stairs the led to a small room and door, which Harry assumed lead to the street. They walked outside and Harry squinted at how bright it was. It wasn’t at all like London to be sunny but there were those rare few days out of the year when sun would poke through the never ending clouds.

Draco went left and walked briskly, and Harry struggled to keep up. They weren’t it any rush so it irritated Harry a little that they were walking so fast. Harry looked at Draco and saw that he walked with his held high but his eyes weren’t really focused on anything. Harry realized he probably walked like that because he didn’t want people to whisper about him, which was understandable.

The cafe was just a couple doors down, as Draco said and they stepped inside, the door ringing to indicate that customers had just walked in. What he didn’t expect, however, was all eyes flying to him and Draco and looking as if they did when Harry was a little boy and just returned to Wizarding World. Harry wondered why they starred but guessed it was probably because Draco and him were known as enemies, and now they were going to a cafe together.

“Just ignore them, that’s what I do.” whispered Draco, and went to order his breakfast.

Harry shrugged, he didn’t pay any attention to stares anymore. He was used to them and he knew how to successfully ignore them. He went and stood behind Draco to order.

Once Draco was done, he had a cuppa in one hand and biscuits in another and motioned to the table by the window in the back. Harry nodded and went up to order.

“Hi, can I-” Harry began.

“You’re going out with Draco Malfoy?” the girl interrupted.

Harry blinked, “Er. No, but we are friends.”

The girl gasped, shocked, “How could you be friends with somebody like him?”

Harry shifted uncomfortably, annoyed, “Look, it’s not really any of your business whom I spend my time with. And maybe if you stopped reading the junk in the Prophet that Rita Skeeter writes, you would understand that Draco Malfoy wasn’t guilty of anything. Now can I please just order my breakfast?”

The girl looked down, cheeks turning bright red and nodded. Harry gave her his order, similar to Draco’s and took a seat across from Draco. He still got stares the entire way to the table but Harry didn’t even care.

“Did that girl give you trouble?” asked Draco, taking a sip of his tea.

Harry shook his head, “Nothing I couldn’t handle. And believe me, I’ve handled worse.”

“I didn’t realize that you being seen in public with me would attract so much… attention.” Draco spat bitterly and looked out the window to the street.

“Draco, having unwanted attention has been part of my life since I was eleven. It’s gotten better but people still stare at me no matter where I go. I’ve learnt to ignore it and tell people to shove off when I need to.” said Harry.

Draco chuckled, “I really can’t imagine you telling anyone to shove off. You’re too nice for that.”

Harry took a sip of his tea, “Most people would think that. But I did make a scene about five years ago in a shop where I told a woman to fuck off, very loudly. I’m only nice to the extent of which you piss me off.”

Draco laughed, “That’s actually impressive.”

Harry shrugged, “It gets annoying. It’s one thing to stare, because I can ignore those. It’s another thing to stop me and try to get me to talk about things that are no one’s business.”

Draco nodded and quietly ate his biscuit and drank his tea, while Harry did the same. Surprisingly, it wasn’t awkward as would have imagined it’d be. Harry never would have guessed he would have ever felt comfortable with Draco in a cafe, eating and talking like two normal blokes would. Harry never really used the word “normal” to describe his life but sometimes he really just did feel normal and it was a welcomed feeling.

“Doing anything today?” Draco broke the silence.

“Yeah, I have to go to Ron and Hermione’s and help with things around the house and get them ready for the baby.” said Harry.

Draco looked taken back, “I didn’t know she was pregnant. Boy or girl?”

“Girl. They asked me to be the godfather.” Harry said, proudly.

Draco nodded, “Well, congratulations to all of you then. I never really wanted kids myself.”

“Thanks. And I thought I did. Especially when I was with Ginny. But now, I’ve been wanting them less and less. When they asked me to be a godfather, I realized that that’s probably all I would ever really want. And Ron and Hermione will probably have more kids and I’m always going to be around to help them.”  Harry said, taking the final sip of his tea.

Draco nodded and seemed lost in thought for a second, “Are you going to tell them about me today?”

“Probably, yeah. I don’t keep anything from them. Are you okay with that?” asked Harry.

“It doesn’t bother me. I just have a feeling they won’t like it, that me and you are suddenly friends.” said Draco, the idea still foreign to him.

Harry shrugged, “They probably won’t. Ron definitely won’t. But they trust me. They’ll get used to the idea of it.”

Draco nodded, “I knew Weasley would have more of a problem with it. He really doesn’t like me. Honestly, I’m not sure if I like him.”

“Yeah, well you never know what could happen. You guys might come to an understanding. As you both should, it’s been so long since everything that happened. Do you still keep in contact with your friends from Hogwarts?” asked Harry.

Draco snorted, “I would have hardly called them friends. But no, I don’t. I have no idea what any of them are doing. Probably hiding. Most of their families worked for the Dark Lord.”

“It’s funny, I think everyone used to think you and Pansy Parkinson used to be together.” Harry said, trying to stifle a laugh.

Draco groaned and tilted his head back, exposing his long, pale neck, which Harry was definitely not staring at, “It’s because we were arranged to get married. She fancied me, a lot. But I never did, for obvious reasons.”

“Arranged? Jesus. I didn’t know they still that these days.” said Harry, sympathetically.

“If you’re in a Pure-Blood line and they want to stay Pure-Blood, arranged marriages are common. Which is why all Pure-Bloods are somehow related and we always marry our cousin.” said Draco, looking utterly repulsed by the idea.

“Damn, you guys are intense.” said Harry.

“You have no idea. But my blood line ends with me. Sometimes I think that I should just have a child and have our name still be alive but our name is tarnished now. The Malfoy’s won’t ever have a good reputation, no matter what. We’ll be taught in schools as the family that serviced the Dark Lord and I do not want my child to be taught that and for other children to ridicule them.” said Draco.

Harry nodded and he understood where Draco was coming from. He couldn’t counter him because he was right, his name will be taught for generations and not in a positive light, unlike Harry’s name.

“I suppose if I never have children, the Potter name will end with me. I never really thought about it.” said Harry.

“Do you not want your name to end?” asked Draco.

Harry chuckled bitterly, “My name will never end. Maybe that’s why I don’t feel the need to have kids. No one shuts up about me. I get annoyed with myself and how much I am talked about. It sounds like something I shouldn’t be complaining about but it’s still irritating.”

Draco nodded, “I can understand that. If you really think about it, Harry, we are a lot of like, just are situations are just at different ends. We both are children of circumstances, born into a life that was bigger than us. We went through a lot at a young age and people will always stare and whisper about us."

“I never thought about it like that, but I suppose you’re right. It’s probably why we understand each other.” 

_Like two different sides of the same coin,_ Harry thought.

Draco nodded and silence returned. Harry quickly glanced at his watch and it read a quarter til noon and quietly cursed. He had to be heading back to his flat to get ready to go over to Ron and Hermione’s. As much as he really just felt like sleeping for the rest of the day, he had promised he would help. And he was eager to tell him about Draco, to his surprise.

“I need to be heading back to my flat and get ready. Thank you for last night. Stop by my department at the end of the night if you ever want to get drinks or something. Or just owl me, if you have one.” Harry stood up and held out his hand.

Draco stood and grabbed Harry’s hand, “You’re welcome. I’ll keep that in mind. And yes, I do. Send Ron and Hermione my congratulations, will you?”

Harry smiled and let go of his hand, a little reluctantly, “Of course. Bye, Draco."

“Goodbye, Harry.”

* * *

Harry quickly went back to his flat, showered and changed. He stole a quick glance at himself in the mirror and saw that the cut on his cheek was now just a faint scar. He was really grateful that Draco stopped by last night, or else he probably wouldn’t have caught it on time.

He really had no idea when he was going to see Draco again, but he was leaving it up to him. Harry didn’t want to force himself onto Draco or anything like that. He really just wanted to be his friend and get people to understand that he wasn’t as bad as he used to be. The hardest part was convincing Ron and Hermione that. Hermione would be a little easier to persuade but Harry already knew that Ron was going to be difficult. Harry was sure that he could get them to come around eventually, he just needed to ease them into the idea. Then maybe start bringing Draco around and they’ll see that he has changed.

Harry looked longingly at his bed before he left, wishing that he could just collapse on it and fall asleep for the rest of the day. While Draco’s couch was comfortable and he actually slept well, it was four in the morning by the time he went to bed. That left him with six hours of sleep which would have normally been fine, but Harry hasn’t been sleeping very much at all the past few weeks.

He took one last glance in the mirror, bags under his eyes and his hair still a little wet from the shower he had. Harry knew Hermione was going to scold him for not sleeping enough and not taking care of himself and Ron was going to nod and give Harry a look.

He sighed and with a flick of his wand, he was standing in front of his best friends house.

* * *

“Hermione! Harry’s here!” Ron shouted as he opened up the door for Harry. He stepped inside, hands in his pockets and looked around. The place had looked different when he last visited but that was to be expected. They were “baby proofing” the house. Harry noticed that what once used to be hardwood floor was now all a deep red carpet. 

Ron noticed Harry looking around, “Looks better for a baby, eh? Hermione put some spells all over the house to baby-proof it even more. Make sure she doesn’t hurt herself or something.”

Harry nodded, “It looks great. But what is Hermione going to say when I give her her first toy broom?

Ron smiled and bumped his shoulder with Harry’s and laughed, “Have a fit, I reckon.”

“Don’t you dare, Harry Potter.” said Hermione, as she turned the corner. She was definitely more pregnant than the last time Harry saw her, if that was even possible. She had one hand on her belly and was walking a bit awkwardly.

“No promises, Hermione.” Harry smiled and went to give her a side-hug.

Hermione rolled her eyes but returned the hug, “It’s nice to see you, Harry. Ron told me you’ve been working very hard recently. Which is good but I hope you’re taking care of yourself too.”

“I’m fine, Hermione. It’s just been busy at the Department. After this week, it should slow down and I should be able to finally catch up on some sleep.” Harry reassured her.

Hermione looked skeptical but nodded, “Well, why don’t you come into the baby room? Ron and I are having some disagreements about it so we wanted your input.”

Harry nodded and Hermione led the way, followed by Ron. They went back through the hallway Hermione first came out of and the room was on the right side. It was pretty big for a baby room and already had a crib, changing table, a shelf with books (Harry wasn’t surprised at all) and a closet. Harry also noticed the walls were still white.

“We have nearly everything but Ron and I can’t decide on what to paint the room.” Hermione looked around the room with a concerned look on her face.

“Why not just pink if it’s going to be a girl?” Harry shrugged.

Ron sighed, “That’s what I said, too.”

Hermione shook her head furiously, “No. My parents had my room pink and I hated it. It was so boring. And besides, I’m not a witch for nothing, I want this room to have magical elements. I want the walls to have movement.”

Harry understood where Hermione was coming from, him having grown up in the Muggle world himself. He remembered the plain walls at the Dursley's house and the one dresser and bed. He thought of how _ordinary_ it was. 

Harry thought out loud, “Well, why don’t you do sort of like, a landscape theme? Have birds and owls fly and trees and clouds that move?”

Hermione clapped her hands together, “Oh! That’s brilliant! And we’ll have it so that the sky represents the actual time so the walls will be blue during the day and dark at night and have the colors of the sunrise and sunset. I love it,” She turned to Ron, “What do you think?”

Ron looked at her and smiled instantly, “I think it sounds great. Good idea, Harry.”

Hermione smiled even more and pulled out her wand and quickly started waving it around and the walls began to change. There were hills and trees and birds flying all over the walls. There were even animals such as deer, eating the grass and walking around. If Harry looked long enough, he could see the clouds moving. It really looked like a magical bedroom.

“Wow.”said Ron, eyes wide. Hermione walked over by his side and held his hand and watched the walls. Harry had never felt more happy for his two best friends who are now starting a new chapter in their lives. And he was excited that he could be on this journey with him. He walked over by Hermione’s side and put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, to let her know that he was always going to be there for them. She smiled up at him, her eyes watery but he could tell those were happy tears.

“Just a few more weeks and she’ll be here.” Hermione said, patting her stomach.

“Do you guys have a name picked out yet?” Harry asked.

“We’re thinking about Elizabeth Jean. Jean is a tradition for my family and I know it would mean a lot to my mum if I kept on passing it down.” Hermione said.

“That’s beautiful.” Harry said.

Ron nodded, “I like it, too. Well, Harry, I guess that’s all we really needed. But you’re welcome to stay for a cuppa, if you’d like.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, actually, I have something to tell you guys.”

They both raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as they went out of the room and Harry followed. They walked into their kitchen and Hermione sat down at the kitchen table while Harry took a seat at the bar they had.

“What’s going on, mate?” Ron asked in a slightly worried tone.

“Okay, I need you guys not to… Get mad or whatever. Just hear me out and you can yell at me after.” Harry said, rubbing his hands together nervously.

Hermione and Ron exchanged glances but only nodded, Ron pouring tea into a mug.

Harry took a deep breath, “So after you left the department last night Ron, Draco Malfoy showed up,” Hermione gasped and Ron looked as though he had been hit by a bludger, “You guys know he’s a Potion’s Master now so he was delivering a sleeping potion for the Head of our department. Of course he wasn’t there but he left it on his desk after I showed him where it was. You know the cut I got yesterday, Ron?”

Ron nodded and Harry continued, “Well, Draco looked at it and said it had been poisoned. Apparently the ring he punched me with was supposed to slowly attack and be painless but I hadn’t looked at in hours. So then Draco invited me over to his flat so he could brew up a potion to reverse the effects. During that time which we talked about well, the Battle basically and how it affected him. It turns out, he isn’t as big of a prat as he used to be. I actually ended up staying the night because it was so late by the time the potion was done and we went out to eat this morning.”

Silence. Hermione looked like she was thinking really hard and Ron’s jaw was hanging open.

“Oh and he says congratulations about the baby, by the way.” Harry rushed out.

“So that’s it? He says he’s sorry and it’s all okay now?” Ron’s fist tightening.

Harry sighed, knowing that he was going to have to fight about this, “Ron, of course not. And he knows that, too. But he’s going to pay for the rest of his life for everything that happened. It’s not like he had much of a choice, his father made those mistakes and his mum and him had to deal with the consequences. I’m not saying you should trust him, I’m saying believe that he’s changed and that me and him are probably going to be hanging around each other now.”

“Why should I believe he’s changed? What has Malfoy ever done to redeem himself? Everything bad that has happened to him, he deserved. Do you not remember the way he treated us when we were kids and what he used to call Hermione? Do you honestly believe all of his views are just changed now?” Ron was practically yelling.

“Of course I remember it all, Ron! I was there, too. I remember everything but I’m choosing to not dwell on that fact. I want to move forward and not hold grudges. His mind was tainted ever since he was little of things his father taught him. He lived a sheltered and manipulative childhood. He didn’t ask to be born into a world where he had no other choice but to be who he was. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t change and realize that what other people labeled him didn’t have to be his future!” yelled Harry.

“Just like you.” Hermione said.

Harry stared down at his hands and he felt his cheeks heating up.

“How is Malfoy like Harry? Harry was never cruel to anyone.” Ron stated.

Hermione took a deep breath, “Harry never asked to be born into the title of being a hero. People will always think Harry is a hero but he doesn’t want that title. Harry had no choice but to be the one who killed Voldemort. Just like Draco had no choice but to be the son of a Death Eater.”

Harry breathes a sigh of relief. He knew she would see the logical side of the situation. Hermione doesn’t let personal feelings rule out the facts.

“Listen, I don’t want to fight about this. I want to move on from the war. I want Draco not to live in fear. You know what he told me? That sometimes he would leave his flat and hope that someone would kill him so he didn’t have to live with the guilt. The Death Eaters that are dangerous are gone. Voldemort is dead for good. His father is dead. Draco has nothing to gain by lying to me.”

Ron and Hermione both winced at what Harry had just said. But he needed to get through to them and them know that Draco had no evil plan to destroy his life. Part of him knew that Draco owed him because he defeated the Dark Lord and he didn’t have to continue to be a Death Eater.

Ron sighed, “I don’t like it, mate. I don’t trust him. But I trust you. I don’t know if I could ever see myself being friends with him.”

Harry nodded, “I understand. But I do want people to know that he’s not evil and not his father's mistakes. The life he’s living just isn’t a good one. I can tell he’s lonely. He doesn’t have any friends from Hogwarts.”

Ron smirked, “Him and Pansy had a falling out then?”

“Er, not quite. They were arranged to be married but uh, Draco is actually gay.” Harry said.

“What? Bloody hell. Never would have imagined.” said Ron, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well, I understand why you would want to be his friend Harry. Just be careful. I agree with Ron, I don’t trust him very much, but I do want to move on from what happened at Hogwarts.” Hermione finally said.

“Thanks, Hermione. He actually said he wanted to apologize for calling you a Mudblood for all those years and thinks you are the cleverest witch of our age. I don’t know, I feel like he just ran out of anger and he has no reason to think like he used to, with his father being gone and not being able to influence his life.” said Harry.

Hermione pursed her lips, “That’s very kind of him to say. Maybe one day we all can sit down and talk together. Let him do his apologizing in person.”

Harry smiled at her, “I think that’s a good idea. Ron?”

He looked grim, “Well, if Hermione wants to, I’ll do it. But I’m not happy about it.”

“I know, thank you for trying anyway. It means a lot to me.” said Harry.

“Just watch your back, okay? I mean he’s gay, you’re bisexual and…” Ron trailed off.

Harry’s face felt very hot all of a sudden, “Er, you don’t need to worry about the now, mate. We just became friends.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow, “We don’t need to worry about it now? Do you think you can grow to like him more than a friend?”

Harry got even more hot, if that was even possible and threw up his hands, “I...I don’t know, okay? I won’t deny I’m comfortable around him and we have some things in common but it’s just like I said: we just became friends and I’m not really thinking about that right now.”

Ron shook his head, “You know things really have changed when Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are shagging.”

“Shove off.” Harry mumbled into his cup of tea and he heard Hermione laugh. He looked up to even see Ron smiling at him and he couldn’t help but smile back. Even though he knew that they weren’t overly thrilled about him and Draco being friends, they at least trusted him enough to know what he was doing.

“Are you going into the office today?” Ron asked, subject finally changing.

Harry groaned, “Probably. I have so much paper work, it’s awful. I meant to get more done last night but Draco showed up. I’ll just work for a few hours and try to get some stuff done. I won’t be in as early as tomorrow though, I need to sleep in.”

Ron nodded, “Thank Merlin for having a job where we don’t need to be there at a specific time.”

Harry raised his mug and cheered to that.

“I’ve been trying to work from home,” Hermione said, “It’s been difficult though. I don’t understand why wizards just don’t get mobile phones already. I would be able to communicate faster with everyone there.”

Harry nodded his head in agreement. Even though wizards had magic, they were lacking in technological advances. He thought having a mobile phone would be much easier than using an owl to communicate. Ron didn’t really get it because he grew up in the wizarding world so he knew no different.

“I have a mobile phone to contact my parents. You can do so much on there! Put notes, set reminders, alarms, anything! Maybe I’ll find a way for wizards to use them…” Hermione trailed off, thinking hard.

Ron shrugged, “I never needed one my whole life, I doubt I’ll need one now. But I didn’t grow up in the Muggle world like you two did so I suppose everything seems a bit outdated to you.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, I mean I agree with Hermione. It would be faster. Wizards have just shielded themselves from the Muggle so they weren’t able to keep up. I think it would be brilliant to see technology in the wizard world.”

Hermione nodded quickly, clearly thinking of some way to make this idea a reality and Harry appreciated her even more. Even though Harry would love to see mobile phones in the wizarding world, he would never actually try to introduce them. But Harry knew Hermione’s influence and if anyone could make it happen, it was her.

Harry stood up, yawned and stretched his arms, “I better be off. I need to get to the office and work for a bit and then head home so I can sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow, Ron.”

Ron pulled him in for a hug and clapped his back, “Thanks for the help today, Harry. That idea was brilliant.”

Hermione stood up and hugged Harry, “Yes, Harry, thank you. We’ll see you soon.”

Harry smiled and waved and with a flick of his wand, he was back at the department where a stack of papers had his name written all over them.

* * *

 

It was Friday and Harry had finally turned all of his paperwork in, granted it was nearing midnight but he felt a weight lift off of his shoulders when he realized that he would have the weekend to relax and not worry about work. And finally,catch up on some much needed sleep.

He hadn’t expected this week to turn out the way it had. He came face to face with someone he thought long ago was an enemy, and now considers him a friend. He had not heard from Draco since that night, but it had only been a few days. Harry wanted to leave the rest up to Draco, he didn’t feel like he should be the first one to contact him.

Telling his two best friends went better than he had anticipated but Ron was easy to reason with once he got over the initial anger and Hermione was always logical. It was comforting to know that his two friends were supporting him in something he thought was right. But they never had let him down when it came to that. He only hoped he wouldn’t let them down when he was assigned the task of being the godfather to their not-yet-born daughter. If there was anything Harry was going to succeed at, it would be this.

Harry was also determined to make sure that Draco was able to walk out in public without being frightened. He put on a brave face, but Harry knew that Draco was trying to make people afraid of him rather than like him. Harry’s friends were an understanding bunch, especially Luna Lovegood, who always accepted anyone. He knew it would take some convincing but Harry was willing to try if Draco was.

Harry was just about to leave before Ron stopped him, “Oi, Harry, come have a drink with us at the pub.” Ron grinned.

“I don’t know, mate. It’s late and I’m tired.” said Harry, yawning for emphasis.

“Come on, one drink, yeah? Neville and Luna are going to be there!” said Ron, enthusiastically.

Harry raked a hand through his messy hair and sighed, “Okay, one drink. I mean it.”

Ron punched the air and they both agreed to walk to the pub, which was only a block away. 

“Have you heard anything from Malfoy?” Ron asked as they were walking.

“Er, no. I didn’t really expect to yet, it’s only been a few days. He seems like he’s pretty busy with his potions.” said Harry kicking a rock in front of him.

“He works from home then?”

“Yeah, his potions room is huge. Dozens of cauldrons and hundreds of books. It doesn’t really surprise me that he’s a Potions Master, he was always good at it.” said Harry.

“Huh.” grunted Ron, and that seemed to drop the subject.

Harry was a little shocked that Ron didn’t sneer or insult Draco in some way, considering he didn’t seem to want to be friends with him when he first told Ron and Hermione. Harry figured it was because Harry has some information on him and he wanted to know if Draco really changed or was just trying to pull one over on Harry.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. The air was cool but it was a nice night. People were walking down the streets, even at this hour. Some were singing and had cups in their hands and big smiles plastered on their face. Harry was amused by it and tried to remember the last time he had a night like that. He recalled last year on his birthday when Ron and his friends took him out and they ended up getting pissed and all walked back to Harry’s, who lived the closest, and stayed the night there. Everyone woke up the next morning, not sure how they got there, but Harry had thought it was a great night, from what he could remember.

When they finally got to the pub, the spotted Neville, his wife, and Luna sitting in a booth with cups in front of them. Luna waved them over and Harry took a seat next to her and Ron took a seat next to Neville.

“Hello, Harry, Ron.” said Luna, her voice just as light and friendly since they day Harry met her.

Ron and Harry said their greetings and ordered drinks from a waitress who saw them arrive and came over to the table. She looked at Harry with wide eyes and nodded quickly when he ordered his drink. When he had said thanks, she blushed and hurried away.

“Still famous, eh Potter?” Neville laughed and took a sip of his fire whiskey. If there was anyone who had changed, physically, since Hogwarts, it was Neville Longbottom. He no longer had that gap in between his teeth and no longer dressed like a school boy, but a businessman. He had grown a good five inches and kept up a cleanly shaved beard. Harry even found him attractive, not that he would ever shag him in a million years. Sober, at least. Harry could honestly say he wasn’t above much.

“Shut up.” said Harry, but it had no bite to it. Hannah giggled and held on to Neville’s arm.

“How’s Hermione, Ron? I know she’s due to have her baby soon. We’re all very excited about it.” asked Luna, her hands resting in her chin.

Ron grinned with pride, “She’s good. The baby should be coming in a weeks time. That’s why I wanted to come out with you lot for the last time before I get too busy.”

The waitress came back and set him and Ron’s drink down. She looked at Harry and blushed once more and walked away letting them know if they needed anything to ask.

Harry was polite and said, “Thank you.” The others giggled as she walked away and Harry rolled his eyes.

“We’ll have to all come over when the baby is born so we can see her.” said Hannah, eagerly.

Ron nodded, “Definitely. We probably will have everyone over a week after she’s born, just to let things settle for a bit. Harry actually came up with a brilliant idea for the baby room. The walls are enchanted and there’s birds and trees and the sky matches up with the time. It’s really cool.”

“Oh, Harry, that’s wonderful.” said Luna, giving Harry’s hand a pat.

“I only came up with the idea, Hermione did all the enchantments.” said Harry, taking a sip from his butterbeer.

“Always modest, you are Harry.” said Neville, laughing.

Harry laughed awkwardly, he didn’t think it was modesty. He just thought that coming up with an idea for a baby room wasn’t that amazing. He was happy that Ron and Hermione liked it of course, but Hermione did do all of the work to make it come to life so he really couldn’t take all the credit.

“I have something to tell you guys.” said Luna, breaking the silence.

Everyone looked at her and raised their eyebrows, waiting, “Well, I’m pregnant.”

Harry’s jaw dropped and he looked over at Ron who choked on his drink. Hannah clapped and gave a shrill scream and grabbed Luna’s hands, “Oh, Luna! How wonderful! When did you find out?”

Luna smiled, “A few weeks ago. We’re very excited about it. We’ll have to move because we don’t have enough room in our current flat but we have time to look.”

After Harry got over the shock, he hugged Luna, “Congratulations, Luna. We’re all happy for you.”

“To Luna and the new baby” said Neville and raised his glass. They mumbled a cheers and drank.

That’s when Harry spotted Draco, sitting at the bar with his head ducked down. He nearly choked on his drink and Ron gave him a confused look and glanced at where Harry had his eyes on.

Ron’s eyes went back over to Harry, wide-eyed, “Did you know he was going to be here?”

“No.” said Harry, wiping his hand on his mouth.

“Who?” asked Neville.

“Draco Malfoy. Harry’s friends with him.” said Ron.

Harry shot him a look. He didn’t really Ron telling everyone because it would just sound bad. He wanted to wait to tell everyone himself and now didn’t seem like the time, considering Luna just announced she was pregnant.

“You’re _what_ with Draco Malfoy?” asked Neville, shocked.

Harry sighed, “Look, it’s a long story alright? Draco came to drop something off at work, he noticed a cut I had was infected and brewed a potion up for me. We talked a bit and he seems like he’s okay now. Well, not mentally okay, but okay in the sense that he’s not a giant prat anymore.”

“He also spent the night at Draco’s.” said Ron and Harry kicked his foot from under the table.

“What?! Harry I know you also fancy blokes, but Malfoy?” Neville said.

Harry threw up his hands, “I didn’t shag him! I stayed the night because it was late and he offered me to sleep on his couch while he slept in his room.”

“That’s a shame.” said Luna.

“What?” Seemed to come out of everyone’s mouth.

Luna shrugged, “I think you two would make a good couple. You’re quite alike, you know.”

Harry gaped at her, “Er, thanks Luna for um, being understanding but it’s not like that. Look, I just want you guys to give him a chance okay? He’s been through hell and back ever since the war and he just wants to put it behind him and I don’t blame him.”

“Can you really trust him, Harry?” asked Hannah.

“I think he’s telling the truth, everything that he told me. He has no reason to lie and nothing to gain if he was. I just think we all try to move on and be mature about it.” Harry shrugged.

“Why don’t you invite him over here?” suggested Luna.

Everyone stared at her. Harry didn’t really have a problem with it, but he wasn’t sure how Neville and Ron would act. He knew they would be awkward and he didn’t really want to put Draco in that position.

After the silence, she continued, “I think it would be a good idea if we all learnt to get along. Harry’s right, the war is behind us and we should move on. It would be childish to carry on a grudge and let a man go friendless for the rest of his life.”

When Luna put it that way, it sounded like the most logical thing to do. Neville and Ron looked down at the table, with the expressions of guilt etched into their faces.

“If that’s alright with everyone?” asked Harry, looking at everyone.

“I think Luna’s right.” nodded Hannah.

Harry looked at Ron and Neville. They both nodded but seemed to look nervous. To be honest, Harry was too. But he thought it might be a good start to an understanding between Draco and everyone else. He took one last sip from his cup and got up to get Draco.

Harry breathed in deeply as he walked over to the man, who still had his shoulders hunched over and his head down. He quickly tapped the his left shoulder.

Draco’s head shot and he looked back in panic. Harry threw up his hands, “Woah, hey. It’s just me, Draco.”

Draco visibly relaxed, “Oh, hey Harry. Sorry, you scared me.”

“It’s okay, sorry for scaring you.” said Harry and took the seat next to his. “How are you?”

Draco sighed, “I’m fine. Just tired, I had a lot of orders to do the past few days. I was going to owl you tonight to see if you wanted to get drinks but it was late and I didn’t know if you had plans already or not.”

Harry nodded, “Actually I’m here with a couple people. Ron, Luna, Neville and his wife but I saw you over here and I thought I might come say hi. I wasn’t going to come out tonight but Ron convinced me at the last minute.”

Draco blinked, “Oh. Well, that’s nice I suppose. How are you doing?”

“I’m good. Just tired, really. I finally finished all of that paperwork so that’s a plus, I suppose. I really need to stop putting that off.” Harry sighed.

Draco laughed, “I’m guessing you were never the person to do their charms essay when they were first assigned?”

“Not at all, I put schoolwork aside until the last possible minute, staying up until two in the morning to finish it. I really wasn’t that great at school. I was pretty average.”

“Except in the defense against the dark arts. I remember everyone talking about how great you were in that subject.” Draco said.

Harry rubbed his neck awkwardly, “The only one, really. I only got an O on my OWLs because they asked if I could conjure a Patronus and I could.”

Draco nodded and took a sip of his drink and set it down, empty, “I got an O in Potions and in Charms. Those were my two best subjects. I was good in Defense but I didn’t try that much in that class. I felt like I had a better understanding at what Dark Magic really was and they never taught it.”

“What do you mean?” asked Harry.

“Dark Magic isn’t just the three Unforgivable Curses, although they play a large part. It’s sort of hard to explain but I grew up around Dark Magic my entire life. It’s like it’s… alive almost. My manor was huge but it had a sense of dread to it. We hid Dark Magical objects there for years and it made it impossible to live there. Dark Magic creeps into your bones and makes you miserable. They didn’t teach that at Hogwarts.” Draco said.

Harry breathes out, “Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve had my experience with Dark objects and it was just… horrible, really. Ever heard of Horcruxes?”

Draco’s head shot up, “Yes. They’re one of the most foul things a wizard can do to themselves.”

Harry smiled warily, “How do you think the Dark Lord managed to survive for so long?”

Draco’s eye widened, “I can’t believe I didn’t put that together before. It makes sense now. Bloody bastard. How many did he have?”

“At first, it was six. That’s what we thought. Turns out it was seven and the seventh one was me. He unknowingly stuck a piece of his soul to me when he first tried to kill me. When he killed me the night of the Battle, he only killed the part of him that was in me.” Harry said.

“That’s… that’s mental. I didn’t even know that was possible. It shouldn’t be possible.” said Draco, eyes wide in shock.

Harry shrugged, “I agree. I owe your mum my life though. She said I was dead to the Dark Lord, lied to him. I know she did it to only save you and your father but if she didn’t, Voldemort would have cast another Killing Curse and it would have worked.”

Draco nodded, “I didn’t know how you survived that time. I just really thought you were the Boy-Who-Lived. Immortal Harry Potter, or something.”

Harry laughed, “No, not quite. I’m very mortal and can be killed. It just takes a bloody lot to do it.”

Draco smiled and nodded, “Well, I don’t want to keep you from your friends.”

“Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to come over and say hi real quick?”

“Er, do you think that’s a very good idea?” asked Draco.

“Well, Luna suggested it after I spotted you and even said she would like to be friends with you so you have someone on your side already. Hannah, Neville’s wife, is okay with it. Neville and Ron might be a bit uncomfortable but they can get over it.” said Harry.

Draco nodded, uncertain, “Okay, but just for a minute.”

Harry nodded and led him back to the table. He didn’t sit down and neither did Draco.

Luna, however, got up and shook Draco’s hand, “Hi, Draco. It’s nice to see you. I heard you’re a Potions Master. I think that’s wonderful. How have you been?”

Draco seemed taken back and stared at her hand in his for a second before responding, "Yes, I am. And thank you. I’ve been doing okay. Just busy, really. How are you?”

“I’m great, thank you! I was just telling everyone that I’m going to be a mother soon!” said Luna, and patted her stomach.

“That’s great. Congratulations.” Draco smiled genuinely.

“Thank you! Come sit down, both of you!” She said and moved to make room for both Harry and Draco in the booth. Harry sat in the middle and Draco at the end, directly across from Ron who was trying to avoid eye contact.

“Hello, Draco.” said Hannah, with a small smile.

“Hello, Hannah.” said Draco.

“Malfoy.” said Neville.

“Longbottom.” replied Draco. 

“Weasley.” Draco nodded at Ron. 

“Hey, Malfoy.” replied Ron, still trying to avoid eye contact.

Harry felt the tension in the booth increase slightly and he suddenly had second thoughts about inviting Draco over. Not that he didn't want Draco to get along with everyone but he didn't know if now was the best time.

There was an awkward silence until Draco decided to speak up, “So Longbottom, what do you do now?”

Neville seemed surprised at the question, “Er, I”m the Herbology professor at Hogwarts now.”

Draco nodded, “You were good at that subject. I was complete rubbish. I guess I didn’t really try as hard as I could but those Mandrakes creeped me out.”

Neville smiled a bit, “Yeah, I’m still not found of them either. Those buggers are loud.”

They all nodded in agreement as they remembered Herbology lessons when they had to deal with the Mandrakes. Harry felt the tension decrease a bit and it made him relax, just a little.

Draco turned to Ron, “What about you, Weasley?” Harry knew that Draco knew that he was an Auror, just like Harry but he was actually glad that Draco asked that. It was a way to keep the conversation going and to keep it on good terms.

“I’m an Auror. Harry and I work together.” said Ron proudly.

Draco nodded approvingly, “So I might as well get his out of the way. I know you probably all don’t like me, and I really don’t blame you because I was an arsehole in school and I did some horrible things. I won’t make any excuses for myself and I’m paying the price every day for my actions but I would like to apologize to all of you. How I treated you all wasn’t fair and it was wrong. I don’t expect to forgiven or even your friends, if you don’t want but I have always wanted to apologize, so there.”

Harry looked at Draco and was very impressed with how he worded it. He could tell by Neville’s face that he was more than likely going to accept Draco’s apology. While he didn’t seem to eager at first when Harry brought Draco up, it looks as though his mind was changing. 

“I’m not saying it’s okay, Malfoy, but I hear your apology. Thank you for saying sorry, it does mean a lot. Honestly, Harry was right, you seem like you’ve changed. You don’t seem as… angry as I remember you to be. I think given time, things will all work out for the best.” said Neville and nodded like he was convinced.

Draco looked at Harry and smirked at Neville's comment, "Did he now? Thank you. Both of you." **  
**

Ron took a deep breath, “Look, I hear your apology out too and I’m not saying you don’t mean it, I just don’t know if I can accept it. you know? I think things were a little more personal between us and I just don’t know if I believe that you’ve changed.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “I assure you, I would not be here if I had not changed somehow.”

Ron’s face grew red, “What? Just because everyone hates you, you’ve resulted to hanging out with us Blood-Traitors?”

“Ron-” Harry was going to tell him to cool it but Draco ended up talking over him, “Listen, Weasley, I do not think of you as Blood-Traitors anymore. Whatever ideas that my father had for this world are not logical. You supported the right side in the war and I just happened to be born into the wrong side. I didn’t pick. Yes, everyone hates me and as I said, that’s how I’m paying the price. The only thing I can do now is apologize for my mistakes, which I’m doing right now. I understand if you can’t accept it, but I do not go around talking about things you do not understand.”

Ron slumped back his seat, “I don’t understand how you can change, just like that.”

Draco sighed, “It wasn’t just like that, as you put it. I had a few years before my mother and I could come out of hiding. Years of thinking to myself of why my father did what he did. Why would he put his only son in such danger? Why did he have to support a man who killed just because he wanted power? The more and more I thought about it, the less it started to make sense. I lost everything in the war. It would be astounding if the war did not somehow change me and made me realize that everything I once stood for was absolute rubbish.”

“What was it like? I mean, being on the Dark Lord’s side?” asked Neville.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Harry whispered to Draco.

Draco smiled gratefully at him, “No, it’s okay. If they want to know, they can know,” He turned back to everyone else, “My house was always full of Death Eaters. They were cruel and I didn’t talk to most of them. When the Dark Lord decided to take residence at the Manor, it was like living in the most bleak place in the world. Everyone was on edge because they were frightened of angering him. My father was a nervous wreck. Luckily, I was at Hogwarts for most of it but I was there when you guys came to the Manor and they tried to make me give away Harry. I didn’t want to live that way anymore, in constant fear. I couldn’t be like my father. So, I pleaded ignorant and let Harry get away. I wanted the war to be over and I wanted Harry to win it.”

Luna reached over Harry and patted Draco’s hand, “You were very brave to do that, Draco.”

“It wasn’t really. Probably just the first right thing I ever did.” Draco smiled at her and patted her hand back.

“Er. Do you still have the you know.. the Mark?” asked Ron in a quiet voice.

Draco looked down and Harry felt awful for him at the moment. He knew Draco was going to answer because he felt like this was the only way that Draco could win their trust. He probably even felt like he owed them the truth.

“Yes. It will never go away. It fades more and more but it won’t go away. I’ve tried all I know to remove it. I wear long sleeves all the time, even when it’s hot. Glamour won’t hide it. The Dark Lord made sure that if you had his Mark, you would have it whether he was dead or alive.” said Draco, in a subdued tone.

Ron blinked like he couldn’t believe it and no one really spoke up until Luna finally said, “Just like Harry. I mean I know it’s quite different in ways but Harry will always have that scar on his forehead, even if it does fade. You both left the war marked.”

Harry's mind drifted back to the conversation that he and Draco had had a few days ago, realizing how much truth was in that statement.

Draco nodded, “You’re right, Luna. But Harry and I weren’t the only ones. Everyone else was, too. Seven years later and we’re still all trying to move on.”

Neville nodded, “Cheers to that. I still get bloody nightmares from the war. They don’t come as often but they still do and I reckon they will for awhile longer. We were all too young for that war.”

“Cheers” said Ron, “You think Harry and I would have enough excitement for a lifetime and we choose to be bloody Aurors.”

Ron smiled at Harry and he returned the smile, “Danger would have found us anyway. At least we’re trained and we can legally do everything now.”

Draco snorted, “Gryffindors.” 

Ron pointed at him, “Hey, three Gryffindors took down the Darkest Wizard to ever life. Actually, four of them. Neville killed that bloody snake.” Ron patted Neville on the back.

Neville beamed, “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”

“It’s nice to talk about the Battle, sometimes. I think we all try to move on, and while that’s a good thing, we also forget that we all went through it together and we can talk about it if we need to because it gets to us at times.” said Hannah.

Harry nodded in agreement, “You’re right. I know I’ve been trying to tell everyone to put the war behind us, which I still think we should, but we should also try to support each other, too.”

“We are as strong as we are united, weak as we are divided.” Draco echoed the words of the deceased Headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore. “I never understood those words really, before the war.”

Harry was touched that Draco knew the words that Dumbledore spoke. He knew that Draco never really wanted to kill him but Harry didn’t know if Draco liked him or not. But Draco had changed and his perception had also changed from the time they were at school. Draco had a good point though, during the war, people were divided. Especially the Hogwarts Houses and Slytherin being thrown into the dungeons. But Harry now hoped for a time when they were all united and they could all say they survived the war together.

“Cheers to that, mate” said Neville, raising his glass.

Harry looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly one-thirty in the morning, “I’m going to go now, guys. I don’t want to be out too late. Congratulations again, Luna and it was nice seeing you, Neville and Hannah.”

“See you Monday, Harry.” Ron smiled at him.

Draco slid out of the booth, “I reckon I should get going too. Er, thanks.”

Ron smirked, “See you later, Malfoy.”

“Bye, Draco!” Came from Luna and Hannah.

“Come around next time, eh Draco? You aren’t so bad after all.” Neville smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Draco’s eyebrows shot up but agreed. They both gave one last wave and walked out of the pub onto the street. The streets were nearly empty now and it had definitely gotten colder, as Harry went to zip up his jacket.

“That went better than expected.” Draco finally said.

Harry turned to look at him, “That was actually a good group to start with. Luna and and Hannah are both really nice. Neville is pretty reasonable. And Ron, well he’s hot headed at first but you just kind of have to talk him down a bit.”

“I wasn’t surprised I had to get into it with him a bit, first. But he seems like he isn’t repulsed be the idea of me being around.” Draco shrugged.

Harry shook his head, “No. What you said tonight probably convinced him more. I didn’t expect you to answer any of those questions.”

“I figured I should. I don’t mind telling the truth, I don’t have much to hide these days.” said Draco.

“You hide the Mark.” Harry said, without really thinking of it first and realized he probably shouldn’t have said that.

Draco looked like he got slapped, “Wouldn’t you, Potter? If you had the Mark of the side that was known for death and destruction? It’s nothing to be proud of, unlike your scar that represents good. I hate that I have it still. I hate I ever agreed to taking it.”

Draco started to walk away but Harry caught up and grabbed his arm, “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not saying you should be proud of it. I just don’t think it’s fair you have to hide it. It’s not who you are, not anymore.”

Draco faced him, “No one understands that though. They just see the Draco Malfoy, the Death Eater. I don’t blame them. But if I let it go exposed, I would get more stares and more things thrown at me and I really can’t handle that.”

Harry nodded, “I get that. I really am sorry. I say things before I think.”

Draco gave a dry laugh, “Yeah, I know.”

Harry smiled and elbowed his side and started walking side-by-side with him. He didn’t live far from the pub. Just a few blokes down. He liked living close to work because it allowed him to walk and Harry enjoyed that far too much than any wizard should. But growing up in the Muggle world, one of the only things he did to give him some sort of happiness was walk around outside until the sun went down. It relaxed him and he always let his mind wonder.

“You live far from here, don’t you?” asked Harry.

“Yeah, I can apparate back to my flat whenever, though. I don’t fancy going home anytime soon, really.” said Draco looking down.

“Why not?”

Draco flushed, looking embarrassed, “My flat is empty and it just gets quiet and lonely. Some nights I stay out in pubs or just walk around so I can be near people.”

Harry didn’t feel like Draco should be embarrassed by the confession, he felt the same way about his flat. It was often too lonely for him to handle. It wasn’t so bad during the day when he goes in and out of his flat, but at nights is when it’s the worst. Sometimes he just wants to have someone there, not even in the romantic sense. He just doesn’t like feeling lonely.

“I understand that. But I can never stay out in public for too long. I get exhausted being around other people. I just end up going home either way.” said Harry.

Draco nodded and didn’t say anything and they walked in silence. Harry knew they were going to be approaching his flat soon and he didn’t know what to do. If he should invite Draco in or just let him be on his way. He didn’t want to seem like he was hitting on Draco because he wasn’t, he just gets that it’s tough being alone and Harry wanted to offer the company.

While Harry thought Draco was extremely good looking and he was even starting to like the bloke, he couldn’t shag him that night, even if that’s what he was going to set out to do. He would end up backing out the last minute because it just didn’t feel right to him. Harry was definitely not going to rule out shagging Draco altogether because in the future he could see that happening but everything was just too new right now.

If he sent Draco on his way, he knows that Draco would either walk around the streets until he got too tired or he would just go back to his flat and sit alone on his couch. He felt guilty at the thought, just leaving Draco at his doorstep without being polite and offering for him to come in.

So he decided, once they got to his flat, he would invite Draco in, as friends.

They walked for several more minutes until Harry slowed down and looked up at his building. They had front steps leading up to the door, he started to climb them and saw Draco didn’t move, “You coming, then?”

“You want me to come in?”

“Yes,” Harry said as if it was obvious, “You said you didn’t like being alone. I don’t like it either. Come in and I’ll get us something to drink.”

Draco looked skeptical but followed Harry up the stairs. When they stepped in, it had a room to the right that was labeled, “Landlady” Then there were stairs leading up to what Harry called home for the time being. He climbed the steps and heard Draco following after him.

When he got to the door, he unlocked it and they both stepped in. It really was a plain flat. The doorway seemed to lead right into the dining area because there was a small table and right behind that was a small kitchen. They walked further in on the other side of the kitchen, there was a small living area. Harry had some pictures on the walls and even some shelves with books. There was a hallway that led right to the loo and Harry’s bedroom.

“It’s small but it works for me, at the moment.” said Harry.

“At the moment?” questioned Draco.

“Well, I would really like to move into a house one of these days. But I don’t want to do that until I decide to settle down with someone.” Harry shrugged.

“Makes sense.” said Draco, as he moved along the shelves and examined Harry’s book collections and pictures.

Harry let Draco look and explore, and went to the kitchen to get them some tea. Both of them had already had drinks and Harry wasn’t up for drinking any more. He grabbed two mugs and quickly heated the water using a spell and placed two tea bags in the mugs. He brought them out and handed one to Draco.

“Thanks.” said Draco and took a sip.

“You’re welcome. You can sit down, if you want.” Harry moved to sit on his couch and Draco followed. Harry sunk back comfortably on his couch and closed his eyes and relaxed. Draco seemed a little more nervous but after a few minutes, Harry could feel his tension leave and for him start to relax. Harry was glad, he didn’t want Draco to feel like a stranger in his home.

Harry opened his eyes and saw Draco move to put his mug on the small table next to the couch. As a result, his shirt sleeve rode up a bit and Harry saw the end of the Mark. A surge went through Harry and he all of a sudden really wanted to look at it. And even to touch it. Harry was taken back with himself. It wasn’t his business but he was suddenly so curious about the Mark on Draco’s skin.

Draco looked up and saw where Harry’s eyes were and moved to put down his shirt sleeve.

“Don’t.” said Harry, words leaving him before he could stop himself, “You don’t have to hide. Not here.”

Draco looked at his as if he wasn’t sure but didn’t make the final move to put his shirt sleeve down, “It’s just habit, more than anything. I always have to be aware of it.”

Harry stared still at the exposed part, “Can I see it? You can say no, but I’m just curious is all.”

Draco thought for a minute. Harry didn’t know if he crossed some sort of line but didn’t see the harm in asking. The worst he could say was no and Harry would understand that. He understood the Mark was something that Draco was probably deeply ashamed of. Draco finally shrugged as if he had nothing to loose and started to roll up his sleeve even more.

Harry sat straight up and put his tea on the floor right next to the couch. Draco lifted his arm and showed it to Harry.

The Mark was it as Harry remembered: A skull with a snake coming out if it’s mouth. The snake was twisted in a figure-eight like shape. The Mark was also shades lighter than what it was during the Battle. It was now a grey color, unlike the black color it took when Voldemort was at large.

“It was the Dark Lords way of summoning the Death Eaters. He could touch it and it would hurt like hell and we would have to come to him immediately. Or we could summon him but we were only to do that if we had you.” said Draco.

“Blimey. That must have been awful.” said Harry, his fingers now hovering over it. He and Draco were sitting knee to knee and Harry could feel Draco all around him and it was making him dizzy. He hadn’t been close to anyone is quite some time and it was making him go mad.

“It was.” said Draco, voice hard. Harry still had his hand over Draco’s arm and then without warning, he was touching the Dark Mark. Draco was taken back but didn’t move to pull away so Harry thought he was fine. He had seen the Dark Mark plenty of times but he never was this close to it. Harry felt a rush of sympathy for Draco for having to have something like this on him for the rest of his life as a constant reminder of the mistakes he’s made.

Once Harry realized what he was doing, he pulled back and blushed, “Er, sorry.”

Draco looked amused, “It’s alright,” He didn’t roll his sleeve back down, Harry noticed, “I could tell you were looking at it out of curiosity more than anything. Most people would look at in disgust.”

“I just can’t believe there isn’t a way to remove it somehow. I mean, I don’t think you should hide but I understand why you do, I just know you would probably like it to be gone.” said Harry.

Draco nodded, “I would like it gone but I’ve done everything I could to get this bloody thing off of me. I’m probably just going to have to live with it and hopefully it just gets lighter and lighter.”

Harry nodded, “Well, it’s been seven years and it’s a light shade of grey so I imagine in another seven years it will barely be visible.

“Maybe.” said Draco, but he didn’t sound convinced.

After that, Draco and Harry talked about anything and everything into the night. Harry was very tired but he didn’t mind talking to Draco, it was actually nice and Draco was rather smart. He could hold a conversation and get a good debate going. He was able to admit when he was wrong and he was only a little smug when he was right. Harry found it easy to talk to Draco, there wasn’t anything to hide because they felt like they had nothing left that either person didn’t know about.

It was about four in the morning when the owl crashing into Harry’s window. Both Harry and Draco were startled by this and Harry walked over to the window, recognizing right away that it was Ron’s owl, Pig.

It was a Howler. He was slightly nervous when he opened it.

“HARRY YOU’VE GOT TO COME HERE RIGHT NOW, OH BLIMEY. HERMIONE’S HAVING THE BABY A WEEK EARLY. _OUCH._ SHIT. COME QUICK HARRY, I REALLY DON’T WANT YOU TO MISS THIS. I’M GOING TO BE A DAD IN A FEW HOURS HARRY AND YOU’RE GOING TO BE A GODFATHER. WE’RE AT ST. MUNGO’S.”

Harry watched as the Howler exploded and he stood there, in shock. Hermione wasn’t supposed to be due for another week. Harry was lost in the shock when he felt someone shake him shoulders.

“Harry! You need to go!” Draco yelled to him.

“Right. Yes. Come with me.” said Harry. **  
**

Draco looked at him like he grown another head, “Are you mad? I doubt Weasley would want me there.”

“I want you there. Between me and Ron, we’re going to be freaking out and Hermione isn’t going to be any more calm and we need calm right now…” Harry’s mind was racing.

“Okay, but I’m staying in the waiting room.” Draco finally said.

Harry nodded quickly, pulled out his wand and grabbed Draco’s arm and apparated to the hospital. Harry Potter was going to be a godfather.

* * *

 

Once they arrived at the hospital, Harry looked both left and right, frantically searching for any sign of Hermione and Ron anywhere. He saw Draco from the corner of his eye calmly scanning the hospital, less frantic than Harry was. Harry wasn’t sure how Draco kept his calm demeanor but he probably had a lot of practice considering who he used to have for company.

“Harry!” Harry heard someone yell and whipped around to find Ron jogging towards him.

“Ron! How’s it going, is she okay?” asked Harry, breathless.

“She’s okay. She actually already had her. I swear I owled you right when I got here but it took only ten minutes. I think everyone was surprised she came so fast. Wait- What is Malfoy doing here?” asked Ron, clearly he wasn’t paying any attention before hand because Draco had been right beside him the entire time.

“He was with me when I got the owl. Never mind that now, can I see her?” Harry asked.

Ron nodded and looked awkwardly to Draco, “Er, yeah of course you can.”

“I can wait here. I wasn’t going to come but Harry insisted.” said Draco.

Harry flushed, he really had no reason to invite Draco here, he didn’t even know why he did in the first place. It was just instinct to invite him because what sort of host would he be to just leave right then and there? Harry knew that wasn’t really the reason, but he thought it was a good enough excuse if Ron decided to ask him about it later.

“Did he?” Ron raised his eyebrows. He gave a sigh, “No, it’s okay. You can come into the room.”

Harry was taken back, maybe Ron was being nice because he just became a father, he didn’t know. But Harry smiled at his best mate for making it less awkward. He was even relieved too because now Harry didn’t feel like he had to rush because of Draco in the waiting room.

Draco looked just as, if not more, surprised as Harry but merely nodded. Ron turned his back and started walking down the hallway which has multiple rooms in it. Ron finally stopped and opened the door to Hermione’s room and they all quietly walked in.

There sat Hermione on a big bed with white sheets, holding her baby. She had a smile on her face that was absolutely just glowing as she looked down at her daughter with such fondness in her expression. She was rocking her and singing a song and Harry’s heart warmed instantly, not only for him but for his two best friends whom he’s never seen so happy.

Hermione looked up when she heard them all come in and smiled, “Hello. I think it’s time to introduce you to Elizabeth Jean Weasley. I agreed to let her take Ron’s last name because I picked her name and she has my middle name.”

Harry walked slowly to the bed, Ron went on the other side of her and Draco stood back a little, not sure if he was quite welcome there or not yet. Harry sat beside her on the chair that was next to the bed, “Hello, Elizabeth. I’m your godfather, Harry.”

Hermione beamed and put Elizabeth into Harry’s arms. He was taken back, not sure that Hermione would be willing to let anyone else hold her yet but he welcomed her greatly and held her gently.

He felt tears spring to his eyes as he held her. She had blue eyes, like her father but she had brown hair, like her mother. She was already beautiful and Harry never wanted to protect anyone more than her in his life. She was innocent in every sense of the word. And Harry was glad she was born into a time of peace, unlike himself, who was born during an impending war

Harry felt Draco move closer to stand over his shoulder and looked up at him, he had a soft smile playing on his lips. Harry smiled at him and looked back down at Elizabeth. He wasn’t sure why, but he was glad Draco was here at this moment. Draco didn’t have many friends to experience anything with and he knew that while Draco was probably a little uncomfortable at first, he was glad he was there.

“Hello, Draco.” said Hermione, looking up at him.

“Hello, Hermione. I apologize for intruding but Harry insisted I come along.” said Draco. Harry didn’t mind that Draco was blaming him for his showing up. It was Harry’s fault and if Ron were to get mad, it should be at him who said that Draco could come.

“It’s quite alright. I don’t mind. Harry’s told us about you, already.” said Hermione.

“Has he?” asked Draco, more rhetorically than anything. Harry already told him that he was going to tell Ron and Hermione about him. Harry wasn’t going to get into this conversation. For one, he was too distracted by Elizabeth to say much and two, he knew it was a conversation they needed to have.

“Yes, he said some very nice things about you. I will be honest with you Draco, since we are adults now and we are past teenage passive-aggression, I do not entirely trust you. I trust Harry, however, and I trust that when he said that you have changed, that he was telling the truth. Time will tell, however, and I hope we will soon be friends.” said Hermione in an authoritative tone. Harry smiled despite himself, only Hermione could have just given birth to her daughter and sound like she is at a meeting for her job.

“Thank you, I appreciate the chance to redeem myself. I would like to apologize for my actions, as well. There are no excuses to them but I do feel guilty about how I treated you at school and I do not have that same viewpoint on Muggle Borns as I once did. If there was anyone’s blood who was tainted, it was mine.” said Draco.

Harry was actually impressed by that apology. It sounded just as official as Hermione's previous statement and somehow knew that they were going to end up getting along.

Harry glanced up at Hermione and saw her give a smile to Draco, “I accept your apology. I am also glad you don’t have that view on Muggle Borns anymore. No offense Draco, I’m sure you’re very smart, but we all know who really was top of their class.”

Ron barked out a laugh and gave Hermione’s hand a gentle squeeze, “God, I love you.”

Harry felt himself laugh too and he even heard Draco laugh behind him, “I won’t argue with you there. I didn’t even finish school.”

“You are a Potions Master, aren’t you?” asked Hermione, still holding Ron’s hand, who was now sitting next to her on the bed.

“Yes, I am. Luckily, that only required me studying Potions further on my own time rather than having to receive a NEWT for it.” replied Draco.

Hermione gave a nod and frowned a bit, “I can see why you could not attend Hogwarts for your final year. To be honest, that year was rubbish. Of course with the Battle over, I could study more without much distraction but I think we were all still trying to cope with our losses. Even studying was hard for me to do.”

Ron nodded, “I remember that. That was the year I saw you study the least. Of course you still got perfect NEWT scores.”

Hermione blushed, “Well, yes. I was surprised, to be honest.”

Ron chuckled, “I wasn’t. I was surprised, however, that I passed all of mine. I thought I was going to fail at least one subject. Still only got average marks though.”

Hermione lightly slapped his shoulder, “Oh, come off it. I was very proud of you. You’re a very smart man Ronald Weasley.”

Ron flushed and Harry smiled at both of them. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be married to the smartest witch of their age. He probably wouldn’t be able to stand it because he would always feel like he’s competing. But Hermione never treated him like she was above him, nor below him. To her, they were equals. Hermione had every right to parade around how smart she was, and sometimes if the occasion called for it, she would. Harry knew Hermione though and she was very humble about her gifts. And Hermione was right, Ron was a smart man, he was just never very school-oriented, just like Harry was himself.

Harry’s arms were finally growing tired and he gave Elizabeth back to Hermione, who was all too willing to hold her new daughter.

“I half expected her to have ginger hair.” said Hermione.

“I’m glad she doesn’t. About time someone in the family look different.” said Ron, as he put an arm over Hermione’s shoulder.

“She’s beautiful.” said Harry.

“Yeah, she really is.” said Hermione, affection laced in her voice.

They sat there in silence for a bit, all just taking in the moment of welcoming someone into the world until one of the nurses walked in, “Mrs. Granger, sorry to interrupt but we need to take little Elizabeth to put all the anti-illness spells on her.”

Hermione smiled down ruefully and handed her to the nurse who walked out. Harry didn’t realize that that was how wizards got vaccinated. Of course it made complete sense, but him being raised by Muggles for the first eleven years of his life, he always received shots. It had been awhile since he got vaccinated, since Muggles needed to do them every so often and made a mental reminder to come back to get anti-illness spells on himself.

“So, I’m just wondering, are you two shagging? Cause I really did not expect Malfoy to be here.” Ron finally said, breaking the silence.

“Oh, Ron, they’re not shagging yet.” said Hermione.

“Shagging?” Harry said.

_"Yet?_ ” Harry heard Draco say from behind him.

Hermione gave one of those looks that read, “ _Oh, really, if only you guys paid attention maybe you would know._ ” One that she used to give them plenty of times when they were at school.

“Well, if you two were shagging, as Ron thinks you are, your clothes wouldn’t be so well put together. No one has marks on their necks. None of you look like you have anything to hide. For now.” Hermione smirked.

Harry held up his hands, “Woah, okay. Draco and I are just friends, yeah? We just became friends.”

Hermione gave them the look again, “Which is obviously why I said, for now.”

“Are you guys always so straightforward with each other?” asked Draco.

“Yes.” All three of them replied at once.

“It saves time, really. We’re too close not to be blunt with one another.” said Ron.

“But you two really need to be careful. Even if you two aren’t a couple, the Prophet has already said some nasty things about you two.” said Hermione, a frown on her face.

“The Prophet? What was the Prophet saying?” asked Harry.

“Really, Harry. You work for the Ministry, you should really read it more often,” Hermione chastised, “But it’s saying how you guys were spotted at a cafe, being friendly with each other. Some people who saw you commented on stating that Harry shouldn’t be hanging out… Er, Death Eater scum.” said Hermione, quickly.

Harry flinched at the insult, he looked up at Draco who looked distressed, “Did you read that article?”

Draco shook his head, “I haven’t had the chance to do much really, I’ve been so busy.”

Harry sighed, “Look, I don’t really care much what they think about me. Or if they see Draco and I out in public. I’ve got nothing to hide and to be ashamed about.” He looked at Draco hard to make sure he got the message. Just because there was people who didn’t like them hanging out together, doesn’t mean he’s going to stop. Draco responded by giving him a barely-there smile.

“Harry, I am not disagreeing with you, and I know you don’t care what they think. But this could harm both you and Draco. Draco more so considering the fact that people would want to protect you, Harry. The whole Wizarding World is protective of you.” said Hermione.

Harry groaned, “You know, I’m getting too old for this shit.”

Ron barked out a laugh and Hermione tried to act like she disapproved his choice of words but he could see the smile she was trying to fight.

“Who wrote the article?” Draco asked.

Ron, still laughing, “Who do you think?”

Harry knew immediately, “Rita Skeeter.

Ron nodded, “Exactly. The woman doesn’t stop.”

“I want to meet up with her and talk to her. Actually, I think we all should. Or, at least maybe Ron can if Hermione is too busy with Elizabeth.” said Harry.

“Why would we meet up with her?” asked Draco.

Harry shrugged, “To set the record straight. I’ll give a statement, Draco you can give one if you would like, Ron or Hermione can confirm it. We watch her write it so she can’t twist our words around and make sure it’s published exactly the way we said it.”

“That might actually be the smartest thing to do, Harry. I would like to be there, but I know with Elizabeth it would be hard… Oh! How about we hold the meeting at our house? It would also show everyone that we trust Draco enough to come into our home. We’ll be able to control more from there as well.” said Hermione, smugly.

“That could actually work.” said Ron, smiling at Hermione.

Harry nodded in agreement, “I like that idea. Thanks guys, for letting us use your home. Are you okay with that, Draco?”

Draco seemed lost in thought, “Er, yes. That seems reasonable.”

“What’s the matter, Draco?” asked Hermione, also sensing his distress.

Draco shuffled awkwardly, “It’s just… I appreciate the effort to try and make sure I’m safe. I really don’t deserve it.”

Hermione’s face softened, “Draco, you shouldn’t punish yourself anymore for what’s been done. It’s all over now. The best thing we can do is try to move on.”

Ron nodded, “We aren’t heartless, Malfoy. I don’t want to see you getting beat up. That might have been amusing when we were in school but Hermione is right, and so was Harry. It’s time to move on.

“Thank you,” said Draco, “If you need any potions for anything, just let me know and I’ll make them free of charge. I often get orders from new mothers for sleeping potions and such. Just let me know if I could be of any help.”

“Oh, thank you, Draco. That’s very kind. I will let you know if I should need any.” said Hermione, smiling at Draco.

Harry felt warmth spread over his body at the scene around him, and of how happy he felt at that moment. Hermione had just given birth to his goddaughter and they had a nice, little family that he was delighted to be a part of. His worries about his two closest friends not being okay with Draco were dissolved instantly. It made Harry feel so much appreciation for his friends who have backed him up for years, still trust him and support him in every way. The feeling was entirely mutual, there was nothing in this world he would not do for the people he loved.

Harry knew how strong the power of love and friendship could be, he was the product of that. His own mother saved his life by sacrificing herself out of love and that’s what kept Harry safe all of those years and that’s was Voldemort’s downfall. He never understood love, and he never felt pity so much for someone in his life. Of course, not the pity that made him forgive Voldemort, but the kind where you know there is no hope. But Harry had hope and love and there was nothing else in the world that he needed more.

Even through his happiness, Harry felt exhausted and gave a huge yawn, he looked at his watch and it was nearly six in the morning.

“You guys should get going, it’s late. Well, early, really. I know you two probably haven’t slept so get going and catch up on some sleep. We should be out of here later today and we’ll let you know when we’re all settled in at home.” said Ron.

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’m going to owl Skeeter when I get home and I’ll let you know her response and what day would be best for you guys. It was great seeing you guys and Elizabeth.” Harry said and gave Hermione a kiss on her forehead. He walked around the bed and gave Ron a hug, “Congrats, mate. You’re going to be a fantastic dad.”

“Thanks, Harry. You’ll be a great godfather. I’m sure you’ll show her how to get herself out of trouble in no time.” said Ron with an amused tone.

Harry chuckled, “I have to teach her some of my talents."

Draco walked over and held out his hand to Ron, “Congratulations, thank you for letting me be here today.”

Ron took his hand immediately, “Thank you. Of course, I’m sure we’ll be seeing you sometime soon.”

Draco nodded and turned to Hermione and gave her hand a squeeze, “Don’t hesitate to owl me if you need anything, okay?”

Hermione placed her hand on top of his, “Of course, thank you, Draco.”

Harry and Draco both waved at them one more time before walking out of the room.

“I’ll let you know the response I get from Skeeter. I’m sure she’ll reply by the end of the day. She couldn’t resist a meeting with the “Golden Trio” and Draco Malfoy.” Harry rolled his eyes.

“Thank you. I might just tell her my side of the story.” shrugged Draco.

“Will you, really?” asked Harry.

“I might as well, if we’re meeting with her. Most people are horrible to me because they just think I was evil and the only reason why I keep my head down is because I don’t want to be sent to Azkaban or something. They don’t know I’m not actually a mean person anymore.” said Draco.

“Then I think it’s a good idea, too, if you really want to do that. We all just have to be careful around her, she knows how to get someone mad enough to make them say things they don’t really mean. She did that to me during the Tri-Wizard Tournament.” said Harry, shaking his head.

“I remember that article. Mainly because she said your eyes were glistening from the ghosts of your past.” said Draco, laughing.

Harry rolled his eyes, but was amused nonetheless, “I actually said my eyes weren’t glistening from the ghosts of my past. It’s her ruddy quill that makes those horrible notes. That’s why we need to make sure we watch what she writes when we all meet.”

Draco nodded, “We could also slip her truth potion to make sure she doesn’t lie. That quill writes what she says, right?”

“I think so,” said Harry, “You think that would work?”

Draco shrugged, “I would think so. We could just offer her tea, she would have no reason to think we put a potion in there. Would Hermione be against that though?”

“Not at all. Skeeter is the only woman she loathes entirely. You should have seen her at Hogwarts one year, she went to great lengths to finds out how she was finding things out. Turns out she’s an unregistered Animagus and we’re still the only ones to know to this day. So we could also use that over her if we needed to.”

“What’s her form?” asked Draco.

“A beetle. It explains why she was able to get away with it, because she was so small.” said Harry.

“That’s good leverage then. We should be okay. If worse comes to worse and the meeting goes south, we Obliviate her memory and send her home.” said Draco.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, then.” said Harry, sighing.

“Indeed. I should get going, however. I will see you soon, Harry.” said Draco.

“Yeah, goodbye Draco.” replied Harry and Draco was gone with the flick of his wand.

Harry was left standing alone in the hallway in front of Ron and Hermione’s room. He gave another yawn and realized just how tired he was and could not wait until he was able to go to bed, 

* * *

 

_Dear Ms. Skeeter,_

_I am writing to you because of an article you published concerning Draco Malfoy and I. Normally, I wouldn’t have paid attention but this article is something that could directly harm both Draco and I. I would like to explain myself, as well as Draco, in person. My friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley have both agreed to let us use their house as a meeting point. However, they just had their child and should not be having guests at this moment. I hope we can meet within the next week, if you wish and respond with a date that would be best for you._ __

_Harry Potter_

_Auror_

Harry read through his letter to Rita Skeeter about a dozen times. He wanted to sound firm, but not hostile. He rubbed his temples, Hermione was much better at this sort of thing but Harry knew he had to be the one to write it. He hated to admit it but people would listen to him more than anyone else. He hated that fact, it made him feel disgusting. He didn’t want any type of power, he just wanted to be Harry.

Figuring it was good enough, he went over to his window where his light-brown owl, Rasha, and tied the letter to her leg, “Take this to Rita Skeeter, girl. There will be a treat waiting for you when you get back.” Rasha nipped at his fingers lovingly, and took off.

Harry had gotten Rasha only a few years after Hedwig had died. He still missed her, but Rasha was equally as loyal and very intelligent like Hedwig was. Ron and Hermione thought that he should have gotten one sooner but he just couldn’t. He knew it sounded silly but it felt like he was betraying Hedwig. Finally, it came to a point where he even agreed it was ridiculous not to have an owl and purchased one at Diagon Alley, the same place where he had gotten Hedwig. He looked an dozens of owls before he came to Rasha. There was an instant bound and he bought her right away.

Harry looked at his watch and it read just a quarter past seven. He couldn’t believe that just a few hours ago he was sitting in a hospital room with Ron, Hermione and Draco. Harry still didn’t know why he wanted to Draco come along. He was perplexed at the thought, he didn’t need him to be there. But for some reason, he felt like he should have been. Harry’s instincts were right; both Ron and Hermione had gotten along with Draco just fine. He was also proud of Draco for being so kind and offering Hermione free potions if she required it.

The only thing that bothered Harry was the fact that both of his friends were sure that Draco and him were going to end up shagging along the way. While Harry didn’t deny that it could happen, he had no idea why they thought so. Just because Draco was gay and Harry was bisexual doesn’t mean that they had to shag at one point. Though Harry would like to. He wasn’t sure how Draco felt about the subject and probably wouldn’t bring it up unless Draco did.

It also shocked Harry how fond he’s been growing of Draco. How before Ron sent the Howler that they were able to sit and talk for hours without running out of anything to say. Harry wanted that in a romantic partner, but could he really think Draco Malfoy as such?

He laughed to himself, if the Harry ten years ago knew that he would consider being in a relationship with Draco Malfoy, he would have hexed them on the spot. But now the idea didn’t seem too far fetched. He just knew that it wouldn’t be tomorrow that they would start being in a relationship. They still had much to learn about each other and Harry was all too willing to listen to Draco speak for hours on end.

Harry went into his room, took off his shirt and trousers and glasses and set them on the side table. He collapsed into bed, instantly falling asleep to the thoughts of his friends and a certain blonde-haired man.

* * *

 

Harry awakened to the sound of someone tapping on the window. He blinked a few times and reached over to his nightstand and shoved his round-speckled glasses on his face. He lifted up his wrist to check the time on the watch that he rarely ever took off. It read: 3:43PM. He sighed to himself and swung his legs to the side of the bed and sat up, not quite ready to leave the comfort of his bed.

He had had a dreamless sleep, which Harry was thankful for because really, those were rare. The dreams about the Battle were still frequent but Harry never woke up scared or screaming anymore. He let the dreams be a coping mechanism for him. Hands raked over his face and into his hair and sighed heavily.

_Tap Tap Tap._

This brought Harry back to himself and he got up and moved towards the window that was near his dining room table. He saw Rasha perched on the window sill, looking very annoyed at Harry as he approached. Harry felt a stab of guilt for not coming quicker but he was never good at waking up, no matter what time of day it was.

He leaped when he saw a piece of parchment tied to the leg of Rasha and he opened the window with such force is made a loud bang that scared Rasha and made her peck at his fingers.

“Ow! Okay, okay, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. Or make you wait. Let me see the letter and I’ll get you a treat.” said Harry, rubbing at his hand to ease the soreness away.

Rasha calmed down and stood still long enough for Harry to read the parchment.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_I am glad to have received your letter! It brings me great pleasure to know that you want to have a personal meeting with me and your friends. I would love to hear yours and Mr. Malfoy’s side of the story. It is my duty to the Wizarding World to make sure they are the most informed as possible! I heard of Mrs. Grangers and Mr. Weasley's daughter and understand the circumstances. However, since this is urgent, I recommend we meet this following Tuesday at Tea Time. Owl me with your response as quickly as you can._

_Rita Skeeter_

_Daily Prophet_

Harry rolled his eyes, but quickly grabbed a piece of parchment on his table and wrote that next Tuesday would be just fine. Then he grabbed another and wrote out a letter explaining the date and time of when they were all going to meet to Ron and Hermione He looked over at Rasha who still seemed peeved at him and Harry couldn’t blame her. He went into his cupboard and pulled out three treats to give to her. She seemed pleased with this and flew to the window sill to let Harry know she was ready for another delivery.

Harry smiled in spite of himself, she wasn’t Hedwig, but she was a very good owl. He quickly tied both letters to Rasha, “Take the first to Rita Skeeter and the next to Hermione and Ron. And make sure you get dinner sometime between that.”

Rasha pecked affectionately at Harry’s fingers and he gave her a pat on the head before she flew off. Harry watched her until she got lost in the clouds.

He sighed and figured he should Firecall Draco. He would of with Hermione and Ron but knew they were probably too busy to even answer. With a letter, they could get back to him whenever they were finally able to catch a minute to themselves. He had hoped that Tuesday was okay with them, he had already told Skeeter that he would be there. It was Saturday and even though it didn’t give them much time, his friends would understand the urgency.

Harry was nervous, if he was being truthful. He had never been good with publicity. He had given some interviews and it was full of awkward stammers and half-answered questions. It was also annoying, to have people prying into his life even though he just wanted to live a normal one. The thing that Harry worried about the most was Skeeter twisting his words around and the situation becoming worse than it already was. He hoped that Draco was more eloquent with words than he was, because if it was all up to him, the interview would end up in a disaster.

He walked back into his room where he had set a place to give and receive Firecalls. He muttered into the fire whom he wanted to contact and waited until he could make out the face of Draco.

“Hey, Draco. Sorry to disturb you, I know you’re probably tired.” said Harry.

“It’s fine. I woke up nearly an hour ago. Did you get any sleep?” asked Draco.

“Yeah, I actually woke up about twenty minutes ago. But I wanted to let you know of something. When I first came back from the hospital, I sent a letter to Rita Skeeter and she responded. It looks like it’s going to be Tuesday when we all meet up and Ron and Hermione’s place.” said Harry.

“That’s sooner than I expected but I guess it must be done.” said Draco, sighing.

Harry nodded sympathetically, “She said around Tea Time. I’m not sure how your work schedule is so I thought I should give you some days notice.”

“Thank you. But the one good thing about working from home is that you make your own hours, so it won’t matter if I’m gone for a bit.” said Draco.

“Good. I’m a bit nervous actually. I’ve never been good at these type of things.” said Harry, glad that Draco couldn’t see the flush on his face due to the fact that all of him was probably red right now.

Draco snorted, “That’s shocking, considering you probably had to give a million interviews after the Battle.”

“I turned most of them down,” Harry frowned, “But even the ones I did do, was a bloody nightmare. I never know what to say or what the right thing to say is.”

“Well, lucky for you I was raised in a family where first impressions were everything. These type of things are actually what I was used to.” said Draco.

Harry sighed, relieved, “Good. The last thing we need is me fucking this up.”

Draco laughed, “Trust me, it would take a lot to fuck this one up. You managed to not fuck up while saving the entire world.”

“Yes, but that was sheer luck. People think I knew what I was doing but most of it was made up as I went along.” said Harry, agitated. He always had this argument with people, about him not being able to make a mistake because he managed to somehow save the world. Harry has fucked up many times after that and he know he will again. Harry thought of himself as clueless at times because he wasn’t as smart as people made him out to be. He just good with a wand.

Draco sensed his frustration, “It will be fine. Even if things go south, we obliviate her memory. She’s dealing with some of the most educated and well trained wizards. I doubt she would try anything. If it’s worrying you that much, we could meet up and talk about what we are going to say.”

Harry perked up a bit, “I would like that. I hate being put on the spot. But if we’re on the same page about everything then it would be better.”

“Okay. Let’s meet Monday. We can go to my flat and discuss it there.”

“Thanks, Draco. I’ll Apparate there after work. I shouldn’t be off too late.” said Harry.

“Whenever is fine. I stay up late anyways. I’ll see you then, Harry.” said Draco.

“Goodbye.” said Harry, and ended the Firecall.

Harry went back down and settled on his bed, still feeling exhausted from the days past events. The next few days were certainly going to be eventful, as well. Harry groaned and flopped back on his bed, throwing an arm over his face. It’s not like he was unhappy to do it, he hoped it would clear Draco’s reputation and they could go out in public together like normal people. But on the other hand, it was still made Harry’s stomach flip when he thought about doing an interview for the Prophet. He’s managed to avoid those for years.

But Harry knew this is what he had to do. It was the right thing. And Harry had to admit he had a weird obsession of always doing what was right. He longed to be a person who only looked out for his own but he wasn’t a Slytherin for a reason, even if that was the House he was supposed to be in. Even though he left school years ago, it was a status every witch or wizard carried around. Harry was a Gryffindor, through and through, and it came to a point where he even had to recognize his own acts of heroism tendencies.

Harry was happy to have Sunday off though, he could use this one day to relax and get much needed sleep. He even felt his eyes drooping once more but he didn’t fight it. He didn’t know what would come of the interview or of him and Draco. He just knew he needed to make things right and he finally let sleep take over him once more.

* * *

“Potter! Watch out!” screamed Xander, running in Harry’s direction. Harry whipped his head around and saw a curse aim directly at him. Not having enough time to perform a counter curse, he dropped to the ground instantly, dodging the curse.

Xander ran up beside him and helped pull him up quickly as he kept on throwing hexes at this woman. Harry saw the Dark Mark on her arm and started throwing hexes along with Xander. But this woman was powerful, Harry couldn’t deny that.

Her name was Linda Riles, former Death Eater and still believes that the Dark Lord is still alive. They had been getting cases like this ever since the Battle was over. Even though Voldemort was dead, some of the Death Eaters were still having a hard time coping with it and seemed to believe that he was still somewhere out there.

_Nutters, all of them,_ Harry thought and was lessening the distance between him and Riles.

“YOU SAY YOU KILLED THE DARK LORD BUT I KNOW MY MASTER WOULD NEVER LEAVE US, NEVER.” Riles screamed at the top of her lungs. Her blonde hair was mangly and her clothes were torn and stained. She had makeup smeared all over her eyes and she was crying hysterically.

“Jesus, we need to check her into St. Mungo’s immediately.” Xander muttered at he was flinging hexes. Since Ron and Hermione had just had their baby, Ron was taking off a couple of weeks from work to help Hermione with Elizabeth. Harry though Xander was okay but he could be impulsive. He often acted before he thought anything through and sometimes he would put too strong of hexes on the criminals that they caught. He wasn’t much, but he would do for now.

“Give it up, Riles! Voldemort is gone and you don’t have anywhere to go.” shouted Harry.

“YOU _DARE_ SPEAK HIS NAME?! AFTER YOU’RE THE ONE WHO SENT HIM AWAY?! I AM LOYAL TO THE DARK LORD AND ALWAYS WILL BE. HE WILL RAISE AGAIN AND I SHALL BE REWARDED FOR MY LOYALTY.” Riles was now gaining on Harry and Xander and flinging all kinds of hexes at them. Luckily, they were both able to deflect.

“God, this woman is never going to quit!” Xander growled and Harry momentarily worried that he was going to do something extreme and all he could do was hope that this woman would get tired to just slip just once.

“Look at the Dark Mark on your arm, Riles! It the Dark Lord were still alive, it would be more black. It’s over!” Harry pleated with Riles now, wanting this whole event to end because he knew that both of them couldn’t keep this up forever.

“NO, HE IS SOMEWHERE OUT THERE, I KNOW HE IS. MY DARK LORD STILL LIVES.” Riles screamed, becoming more hysterical by the minute.

“I’ve had enough of this bullshit, Avada-”

“Xander, no!” Harry shouted and dropped his arm just by an inch.

But apparently, that was enough because Harry knew of nothing else.

* * *

Harry heard voices but he couldn’t quite make out who was talking. He tried with all his might to open his eyes but somehow, his body wasn’t able to do what his brain told him to. He tried to move his hands but he found out that yet again, his body was not responding. He tried to move any inch of his body and nothing.

Harry fought for awhile with his brain, for him to move, twitch, do something. But after awhile, he grew tired and ended up drifting off into a deep sleep.

He didn’t know how long it was until he finally came to, his eyes, now able to easily open. It was blurry, which made him realize that he didn’t have his glasses on. How long had he been out for?”

“Harry, mate, can you hear me?” Harry recognized Ron’s voice.

Harry nodded, clearing his throat loudly, “Yeah. Yes. What happened?”

Ron saw that Harry was finding a hard time focusing and quickly handed him his glasses, “You and Xander were fighting with Riles when you lowered your wand and she cast a bloody strong Body Binding Hex on you. I came as soon as they let me know what happened.”

With Ron’s face now in focus, he could see that Ron had been worried, his face full of concern, “What happened to her? I heard Xander cast the Killing Curse…”

Ron looked down, “She’s dead. Xander cast the curse and took you here. He’s with the Head now and he’s furious. It’s not in our orders to kill.”

Harry nodded, “I know, that’s why I lowered my wand, is when I heard Xander cast the curse. He’s probably going to get sacked. He’s had warning before this one.”

Ron gave a chuckle, “Yeah, serves him right, that bastard. I never liked him. He was always quick to kill and it made me uncomfortable when I went out and did a run with him.”

“How long was I out?” asked Harry.

“A few hours at most,” Ron shrugged, “Xander Apparated you back here pretty quickly so the Healer was able to work on you right away. She said you should be fine within a few hours.”

Harry nodded, at least he didn’t almost die and there was no blood. Maybe just a few bruises but he could survive a Body Binding Hex.

“I’m supposed to meet Draco at his place after work. We want to go over what we’re going to say tomorrow at the interview.” said Harry.

“You think you’ll be up for that?” asked Ron.

“Yeah, we’re just going to be talking so it’s not like we’re doing anything strenuous.” said Harry.

Ron stifled a chuckle with his hand and it took Harry a second to realize what he was laughing about, “Really, Ron? I already told you, it’s not like that.”

“Yet.” Ron waggled his eyebrows.

Harry rolled his eyes, “I thought you didn’t like Draco? And now you want me to sleep with him?”

Ron shrugged, “I want you to be happy, mate. Ever since you and my sister split, you haven’t gone out with anyone and you talk about Malfoy like he understands you. I trust you Harry, if he says he’s changed, then I believe you.”

Harry felt his heart swell up with affection for his best friend. He knew Ron was always supportive of him but he is always surprised as just how loyal Ron is and how much trust he puts into him. Harry hoped Ron knew how much he meant to him and how much he appreciates him. Harry was never good at vocalizing any of that, but he hoped it showed through his actions.

“Thanks mate, that means a lot to me. And thank you for letting me use your house tomorrow. I know it’s hectic right now with Elizabeth.” said Harry.

“It’s okay, we really don’t mind. Elizabeth is very well behaved, surprisingly. Hermione can’t put her down though. She’s loving being a mother.” Ron smiled fondly.

“I’m happy for the both of you. Between you two as her parents, she’s going to be one smart witch. Probably the top of her class.” said Harry.

Ron beamed, “Yeah, I reckon she probably will be, with a mother like hers. And I’m sure her godfather will get her into all kinds of trouble.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. You know, I was thinking about giving her the Map. I don’t need it anymore. So when she goes to Hogwarts, she’ll be able to have some adventures.” said Harry.

“I think that’s a brilliant idea. Don’t tell Hermione though, I’m not sure how she would feel about it."

“You never know. Hermione could surprise us.” Harry shrugged.

“True, she does that sometimes. That’s what makes me love her so bloody much.” said Ron.

Harry smiled and just then a Healer walked into the room, “Alright Mr. Potter, you should be okay to go. Take is easy the rest of the day and take this potion tonight.” The Healer handed Harry the potion and left as quickly as she came. Harry lifted himself up, a bit stiff, and sat on the side of the bed.

“I better get going, mate. I don’t want to leave Hermione and Elizabeth by herself for too long.” said Ron.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll see you tomorrow.” said Harry and stood up and gave him a hug. With that, Ron was gone with a crack and Harry and went back to his flat to take a much needed nap before he left to go see Draco.

* * *

 

It was nearly eight when Harry was showered and ready to go to Draco’s flat. He couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. He tried to convince himself it was because of what they were discussing and because he was afraid of messing up the interview but he knew that that wasn’t just it. He liked being around Draco more than he thought. He found comfort in his presence and they had an understanding of each other that he never had with anyone else.

Harry hadn’t been this nervous to go to someone flat since the first time he shagged a bloke. But this was Draco Malfoy.

_But it doesn’t matter_ , his head told him.

Harry didn’t know how one person can make you feel so at ease but make you feel like you’ve just chugged down a whole glass of Firewhiskey at the same time. That night before Hermione had Elizabeth kept playing in Harry’s mind. The conversations they had were some of the best that Harry’s had in years. They talked about work, quidditch, favorite places to eat, almost everything. It was even safe to say, Harry thought, that he knew Draco Malfoy better than anyone. But he still wanted to know more.

Standing in the middle of his living room, he too a deep breath and flicked. He only got so far to the point he was standing outside by the street. Harry quickly put his wand in his jacket pocket and made his way into the flat, up the stairs and standing in front of his door.

Harry hesitated, shook his head and decided he was being silly, and knocked on the door.

He heard some rustling at the other end of the door and waited patiently until the door swung open and there was Draco Malfoy, standing in very, very tight black jeans and a white V-Neck top that just hugged him all the right places. Harry could even make out his pecs and he never wanted anyone more than he did at that moment.

“Harry?”

Harry snapped back to reality and realized that he was staring and felt himself flush. Draco had his eyebrows raised and his mouth in a smirk and Harry just knew that Draco was doing all of this purpose because that’s just the kind of person Draco was. If he wanted something, he wouldn’t ask, he would do it the most cunning way he could.

Harry swallowed, “Er, sorry. It’s been a long day. I keep on spacing out.”

“I’m sure.” said Draco, with an amused look on his face and Harry just wanted to slam him up against the wall and wipe it off with his own mouth. “Come in.”

Draco stood aside to let Harry through, “Thanks.”

Draco motioned to the couch, “So, long day you say?”

Harry sat down with a great sigh and placed his hands on his knees, “The longest. Since Ron is not working right now, I had to go out on a run with this bloke called Zander. He’s good in a fight but he’s an impulsive idiot. Long story short, we were facing this Death Eater, who was bloody good by the way, but she was kind of crazy. Our orders aren’t to kill so when Xander was about to cast the Killing Curse, I lowered my wand a little to yell at him and got hit with a Body Binding Hex.”

“Damn, that does sound like one hell of a day. What happened to the woman?” asked Draco.

“Dead. He killed her.” Harry shrugged.

“What was her name?” asked Draco.

Harry blinked and realized that there was a chance that Draco might know her. The possibility was slim, considering how many followers Voldemort had but there was still a chance. “Riles. Linda Riles.”

Draco nodded, “I remember her. Her and Bellatrix were close. Both were extremely loyal to the Dark Lord.”

“I could tell. She was screaming how he was going to come back and how loyal she was and all of that,” Harry shook his head, “It’s almost sad. Her purpose in life was taken away from her and she went crazy.”

Draco gave Harry a strange look, “You feel pity for her?”

“Yeah,” said Harry, “I’m not saying she was a good person or anything. But there were people out there who truly believed that Voldemort was a God and that everything he stood for was right. They dedicated their lives to him. And now he’s gone. Which is a good thing but it’s sad for those Death Eaters who believed in nothing else.

“You are truly remarkable, Harry. No one would see it the way you do.” said Draco, his voice dripping with awe. Harry looked down and flushed for the second time in ten minutes. He wasn’t trying to be a remarkable person, that was just truly how he felt.

“Some people would call is a weakness or foolishness.” countered Harry.

“Perhaps. But it’s not. It’s you realizing that everyone is a human being and that people could be redeemed. If you didn’t have that capability, you and I wouldn’t have been able to be friends.” said Draco.

Harry shifted uncomfortably, he was appreciative that Draco saw him this way, but he didn’t know what to do when he was being complimented. He usually just sat there with his face all red and muttering thanks.

“Maybe.” Harry mumbled and looked anywhere but Draco’s eyes.

“Well, I suppose we should get started on what we are going to say in the interview.” said Draco, clearly sensing Harry’s distress and changing the subject.

Harry sighed gratefully, “Yes, please. I really have no idea what to say. Usually I just say things that get me in loads of trouble.”

“You speak your mind and speak up for what’s right and people do not like that. I think the important thing here is to stick with the basic facts. Be straightforward and do not show any type of emotion that shows you are irritated with the person you are talking to. Once they know they got under your skin, they use that against you.” said Draco.

Harry was instantly overwhelmed, “I think I’ve calmed down a bit since I was a teenager. But I always did have little patience for people who could not see what was right in front of them.” Harry quickly thought back to the time when he tried to convince everyone Voldemort was back but they didn’t believe him. Cedric’s death wasn’t even enough to convince them.

“I understand, but you need to keep calm. Once they realize they can’t get to you, they move on. Do you want to test is out?”

“Yeah, we can give it a go.” said Harry, nervously.

Draco straightened up a bit, “Mr. Potter, why did you want to have this interview today, with your former enemy and two best friends?”

“Er, I wanted to let everyone know that Draco isn’t the person he used to be and my friends are here to vouch for that.” said Harry. He knew it didn’t sound very convincing.

“Okay, we need to work on that. You sound unsure. You need to sound confident. Here, ask me a question.” said Draco.

“Why did you agree to do this interview with Harry Potter, a former enemy and his two friends whom you thought used to be lower class?” asked Harry.

Draco smirked at the question, “I agreed to do this interview with Harry, Ron and Hermione because it is time I tell everyone the truth about what happened to me at Hogwarts and the events afterwards. While I know my history does not support me in this, I hope to let people reconsider what they once thought about me and understand that I am no longer whom I was when I was just a boy, fighting a war I was too young for.”

Harry couldn’t deny that he was impressed by Draco’s confidence. He had this voice that commanded to be listened to and the way he demanded your attention was just as well, too. Harry felt hopeless for a moment, he could never sound that confident. He was only good at sounding angry when he talked about something he felt strongly about. Level-headedness was not a strong suit of Harry’s, it never was.

“That was brilliant. You’re going to do fantastic during the interview. I am probably going to make us all look bad.” said Harry.

Draco waved a hand, “Nonsense, not even you can overshadow how well I can play someone up. It’s a skill that every person in my family has. Which is why we never trusted one another.”

“That doesn’t sound pleasant.” said Harry, making a face.

“No,” Draco shrugged, “But it’s useful in situations such as this. Let’s try again. This time, keep your voice level, speak with confidence. You know why you’re doing this interview and all you have to do is say so. Now, why did you want to have this interview.”

Harry took a moment to collect himself and take a deep breath, “I wanted to have this interview because if I have learned anything from the war, it’s that we were all changed because of it. I have seen the changes in Draco Malfoy and believe he deserves the public’s respect. He is not his father’s mistakes and I believe he has the right to tell his side of the story.”

Draco nodded, his eyes actually softening around the edges, “See, that’s not so hard. Just be direct. Never raise your voice and always act like you know more than the other person. Let’s get into some harder questions that we know the Skeeter woman will probably ask us. Why would you befriend a man who tried to cursed a student and try to kill your best friend?”

Harry felt a blow to the stomach. He had not forgotten what Draco did, but he did try not to think about it so much. It was so hard to justify that fact. Yes, Draco did try to kill his best friend. How could he defend that action? But Harry believed that Draco didn’t ever really want to kill anybody. He was acting on orders.

Harry cleared his throat, “It is to my understanding that Draco was not acting on his own accord. He had orders and if he did not follow them, his whole family would have been killed. He did what anyone else would do to save their family.”

“How do you know he is not using your fame for his advantage? How can you really be sure you can trust him?” asked Draco.

“Er..” said Harry, stumped. It was nothing he ever really thought about. Harry usually went by gut feeling. It he feels like something was wrong, he would act and stand for what was right. He never had been asked to justify much, “I am choosing to trust him because everyone deserves a second chance. If he betrays my trust, then I obviously would no longer support him.”

“Not bad, Harry. You just might want to think about why you’re really doing this so you know what to say tomorrow. Keep the confidence up and the temper down you should do just fine.” said Draco.

“I never really thought about why I was doing it other than the fact that it was just the right thing. But not everyone is going to see it that way.” said Harry.

“Why do you want to do it? This isn’t an interview question, I am curious.” asked Draco.

“Well… I think it’s because I understand you more than anything. And I do believe in second chances with everyone. I even tried to persuade Voldemort to do the right thing. Everyone is capable of it and it capable of good. But others won’t try to find that in people while I think I do. I really try to see the best in people and I see the best in you right now.” Harry shrugged, not even sure what he was saying himself. Everything made sense in his head, but when he said it out loud, it sounded like he was just half-trying to explain himself.

“I don’t know how you don’t see the worst in me. You know how I was at Hogwarts. I was awful.” said Draco.

“Yeah, you were. I’m not denying that. But you were raised a certain way and brought up with a lot of Darkness. The important part is is that you didn’t allow yourself to become Dark as well, even though everything you were raised with said you should have been.

“I suppose. I’m not good at this, but thank you, Harry, truly. You did not have to do this and yet you are making friends with someone who does not deserve your friendship in any way.” said Draco, earnestly.

“As I said, you deserve a second chance. I’m only doing what’s right.” said Harry.

“It’s not going to be right to some people.”

“Then those people can piss off.” said Harry.

Draco laughed, “Bloody hell, you really don’t care what people think of you, do you?”

“Not particularly. If I did then I would have been doing a lot more interviews. The only people’s opinions whom I care about are my friends.” said Harry, “I think the interview will be okay. You’re good at this sort of thing and Hermione is too. Ron is good when he has to be and I will try to remember everything you told me. You probably will have to stop me from saying something stupid, though.”

Draco smirked, amused, “I will. I hope you are right about it going well.”

So was Harry, he really only said that to try and convince himself. But he could easily see the whole interview being one huge disaster because he fucked up and got angry and said something he shouldn’t of. He didn’t want to ruin this chance, though. It was Draco’s only one and he had grown to care for him in the short amount of time. This made Harry uneasy but he couldn’t deny the feelings he had for him.

“So, are you really going to tell her everything?” asked Harry.

Draco thought for a moment before answering, “I will answer what she wants to know. I have no issue with being honest but will not say something about a subject if it is not brought up. I will tell her what I realized after the Battle and how it affected me but anything else she will have to ask.”

Harry nodded, “Is there anything you don’t want her to know?”

“Yes. Not even you know it. You would think less of me if you did and I would not blame you.” said Draco.

“Draco, I can’t vouch for you if I don’t know everything. Just tell me, we will see what happens after.” said Harry.

Draco bit his lip, “Everything I did was out of fear of losing my own family. I was repulsed by myself then and still am. I tortured people. It was horrific. But the Dark Lord wanted me to prove my loyalty. He would put Muggle Borns in front of me have me torture them because they were the inferior species and deserved to die. At one point, I just became numb to it and did without thought.”

Harry didn’t say anything at first. He was too shocked to even think for a second. He knew Draco did bad things but he didn’t think it would have gotten to this point. It wasn’t the fact that Draco did these things, it was the fact that Harry still wanted to prove that Draco has changed and still move ahead with the interview. Any other person would believe that what Draco did was entirely unforgivable. But could Harry really blame him? After all, if Draco didn’t do any of the things he was expected to do, he would have been killed without hesitation.

“I have blood of my hands,” Draco continued, whispering, “Blood I will never be able to wash off. Screams that haunt me every night and will for the rest of my life. I still can’t properly look in the mirror without being utterly disgusted with myself. I feel like I need to have people hate me for the rest of my life. I know I deserve it. But I still want a chance.”

“I’m not saying what you did was okay. I won’t cancel the interview or stop being your friend. I won’t tell anyone, not even Ron and Hermione. I get that this is something that is hard to justify and would make your case worse. I personally think you owe to the people who you tortured to change and make things right and be a better person.” said Harry.

Harry saw Draco visibly relax and realized that he was probably waiting for Harry to say that he was no longer going to help him, “Thank you, for not telling anyone. I think that’s why I want to do this. To try to make things right and do something good. I want to be good.”

“My godfather, Sirius Black, once told me that people weren’t split into good people and Death Eaters. That we all have light and dark within us. But the side we choose to act on is who we really are. He said that to me because I was afraid of me turning bad because at that time, when my connection with Voldemort was strong, it was just anger and darkness all the time.” said Harry, thinking of his godfather. There was a part of him that was still filled with sadness when he thought about the limited time he spent with him.

“But it wasn’t you. I don’t think I ever had true darkness in me. I had ignorance. I had fear. But I never did what I did because I enjoyed it or because I thought it was right.” said Draco.

“You were capable of darkness, though, under the circumstances. But you were doing it for a good cause. It’s twisted.” said Harry, shrugging.

Draco only nodded, “It was.”

After a few moments of silence, “Harry, I think Skeeter might try to ask us about our relationship.”

“What?” said Harry, taken back.

“She’s obviously going to assume we’re in a relationship. She’s going to to think the only reason why you’re doing this is because we are romantically involved.” said Draco, like it was obvious.

Harry blinked a few times, “I never really thought of that. I don’t really care if she thinks we are. I mean, we could decide not to comment.”

Draco shook it head, “No, that would seem even more suspicious. You don’t care if she thinks we’re shagging?”

“Suspicious how? And no, not really.”

Draco sighed, “If we decide not comment on the fact, then it’s obvious we are shagging. If we comment, then we get to say what we want on the matter.”

“Well, what do you want to say on the matter?” asked Harry.

“What do you want to say?” countered Draco.

“Okay, time out. What’s going on?” asked Harry, confused. One minute they were talking about darkness and feelings and the next they were talking about whether or not they were shagging. And they weren’t. No matter how much Harry wished they were, especially at this moment when Draco looked gorgeous but he would never say that out loud. So why was Draco bringing it up?

“I just want to know your stand on the matter.” stated Draco, like it was obvious.

“On the matter of whether or not we are shagging?” asked Harry.

Draco shrugged, and Harry realized that Draco was trying to, in his way, ask him for a shag. Or date. Or something along those lines. He mentally rolled his eyes, of course Draco would ask in the most Slytherin way: to make Harry admit what he wanted first so if he didn’t want Draco, Draco would say he didn’t want Harry so it wouldn’t make him look like a fool. Harry wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or slightly insulted. If anything, he was more amused at Draco. But two could play it that game.

“You know, I’m not sure whether or not I’m going to be confident enough to answer that question. I don’t really want to mess this up. So why don’t you work your Malfoy charm and tell me where you stand on the matter.” said Harry, smirking.

Draco’s eyes widened slightly and he actually looked impressed with Harry, “But that wouldn’t make sense. It’s your reputation that’s on the line if it gets out you’re shagging me.”

He was good, Harry thought, “If you care so much about my reputation, why don’t you just deny it?”

Draco pursed his lips and Harry smiled in victory, he would never let Malfoy manipulate into telling him he wanted him first. If Draco wanted him, he would have to say so himself.

“Do you want me to deny it?” asked Draco.

“I want you to tell the truth.”

“Then the truth is we’re not shagging.” said Draco.

“I guess it is, then.”

“Shame.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up, “Is it?”

“Don’t play stupid Harry, it really doesn’t suit you. I saw the way you looked me when you were standing at my door.” said Draco, scooting closer to Harry on the couch.

Harry clenched his hands in his lap, “What way was that, then?”

Draco reached out and put his hand on Harry’s knee, “Like you’ve never wanted anything more in your life.”

Harry swallowed thickly, his eyes on Draco’s hand that was resting on his knee. He could feel the heat from his hand and suddenly he was very, very hot. His eyes flickered up to his face and Draco was staring intently at him, his eyes never blinking. Harry wanted to look away so badly but he felt like he was under some sort of spell, a spell he had no desire to break.

Ever since they first started spending time together, something was building between them, more than just understanding and friendship. There was an undeniable lust that coursed between the two of them that Harry tried so desperately to ignore. It wasn’t right, Harry thought, to want to shag the man whom he’s trying to help get his life together. Harry wanted to shag Draco, badly, but he didn’t know right now was the right time.

“Harry, you’re shaking.” said Draco, breaking Harry out of his trance.

“Sorry.” breathed Harry, trying to calm himself.

“I’m going to ask again Harry: Do you want to shag me?” asked Draco, looking down at Harry. Harry felt a shiver go up his spine, the way Draco was talking to him. Like he would give anything to Harry as long as he asked. Or maybe if he begged for it. Harry didn’t know if Draco was into that sort of stuff but he really did want to find out.

“Yes, but I don’t think nows the time.” said Harry, finally, pulling himself together.

Draco quickly withdrew his hand from his knee, confusion and even anger on his expression, “Why?”

“Not right now, when we are trying to get your name cleared. There’s more important things to focus on right now.” said Harry, feeling dread every word he spoke to Draco and just wanted him to push him back against the couch and ravish him all night long.

“I don’t see how that is remotely relevant. Are you just saying yes to make me feel better?” spat Draco.

Harry’s eyes widened, “No! God, no. If I didn’t want to shag you, I would say. I do want to, but as I said, not with everything going on. There’s going to be feelings where there shouldn’t be at the moment.”

“What do you mean?” asked Draco, still looking skeptical.

“If we are involved before the interview, then there is going to be a bias. Of course I would want to be on your side if we were shagging.” said Harry.

Draco’s eyebrows pinched together, “That makes no sense, Harry and you know it. You would still be on my side whether we were shagging or not. Unless you are all of a sudden worried about what people might think if people found out about us.”

Harry groaned and stood up and started to walk back and forth, feeling Draco’s eyes following his every move, “No, I do not care what people think about me. I never have. But this is different Draco. Surely you see that. This is dangerous territory we’re in here. Your reputation is on the line. We need people to believe you.”

“What if I don’t care what people think about me?” muttered Draco.

Harry’s jaw dropped and laughed in a way that meant the situation wasn’t actually funny, but what was said was the biggest load of bullshit he has ever heard, “Now that’s rubbish. This whole thing is because you care about what people think of you. I’m not blaming you because what people are doing to you are cruel but you do care about what people think of you, Draco. We don’t need to mess that up.”

This time, Draco stood up, his fists clenching at his sides, standing much taller than Harry. Harry had to admit, he was very scary when he was mad. Like he would show no mercy to anyone.

“That’s what you truly think of me then? A self-absorbed prat?”

“No! God, you keep on twisting my words around. It’s like you want me to think ill of you. Which I don’t. I just told you I would bloody shag you, right now just is not the right time!” shouted Harry, breathing deeply, “Besides, you wanted me to admit that I wanted to shag you. You never told me what you wanted.”

Draco looked away, “It doesn’t matter what I want.”

Harry gave out a dry laugh, “Of course it does, you git. I won’t do anything you do not want. Stop punishing yourself, Draco. You’re never going to be able to move on if you can’t forgive yourself.”

“And you would know all about that.” said Draco, head down and his voice hard.

“Yes, I would. In case you forgot, my friends died on the night of the Battle because I was at that castle. Do you know how long it took me to realize that it wasn’t my fault? That they did what they wanted and they wanted to fight? You did what you had to survive Draco, to keep you and your family alive.” Harry sighed heavily, “I’m going to go. I don’t want to fight about this. I’ll stand on your side tomorrow, just as I said I would. Nothing has changed about that. But think about what you want. And try to let yourself want it without feeling so guilty.”

There was a moment of silence and Harry took that as his queue to leave, moving past Draco to get to the door. But he was stopped when Draco grasped his arm, which caused Harry to turn around and face Draco one last time that night.

“I want you, Harry. I don’t know why, but I do.” whispered Draco.

“And you thought coming onto me in the most manipulative way would get me? Think about why you want me, Draco. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Harry smiled ruefully and took Draco’s hand and pried it away from his arm. Draco’s face was still tilted downward, his eyes never met Harry’s and it felt as if someone hit Harry directly in the chest.

Harry reached his hand out and grabbed Draco’s chin, tilting it up so he could look at him directly. Draco’s eyes widened with shock at the sudden contact but he didn’t shy away from Harry’s touch.

Harry didn’t say anything, just looked at Draco and tried to convey to him that he wasn’t angry with him, only confused and upset that Draco went about asking him out in this way. He wasn’t sure if words were going to work so he stayed silent, hoping that his message was getting across to Draco in some way.

After a minute, Harry lowered his hand and turned around to walk out of Draco’s flat, slamming the door on his way out. He stepped out into the cool air and took a deep breath. He started walking down the street, too restless to go back to his flat. He didn’t know that that was how the evening was going to go. He honestly just wanted to discuss the interview but Draco always made him stray to other things.

But he was most of all, confused. He was glad that the feeling of want was mutual between them but Draco was so damaged that he didn’t know how to properly want Harry. Draco didn’t want to take anything from Harry, but give. And while it was in some ways noble, it was unhealthy for Draco who does not have that much to give. Harry has love in his life, and he could give Draco that.

Draco didn’t have friendship or love or acceptance, something Harry has always had after he found out he was a wizard. It occurred to Harry that Draco probably has never had any of these things. Between him, Ron, Hermione and all of his friends, Harry was hoping that Draco would soon understand what it means to have people to trust and love.

Harry walked around for nearly an hour until he realized how late it was. He needed to get rest for the interview tomorrow. He wasn’t all that concerned about the interview, even with the argument with Draco. Harry knew Draco was concerned about his reputation and knew that he wouldn’t mess this up. And Harry wouldn’t mess this up for Draco.

With one more heavy sigh, Harry went back to his flat, mentally exhausted. He quickly pulled his shirt off and trousers and put his glasses on his night stand. He was asleep within seconds after his head in the pillow.

* * *

 

Harry was sure that he hadn’t felt this nervous in his life. Other than the obvious of when he had to defeat the most Dark Wizard the world has seen, but somehow, that was looking pretty easy to the interview he had to give.

He was getting ready in a daze, thinking over and over on what he was going to say and if Draco was still upset with him and trying to convince himself that everything was going to go according to plan. But he was Harry bloody Potter and nothing ever went according to plan. He was the master at improvising just because he was so used to plans failing.

Harry did have hope that his friends would be by his side the entire time and help him along the way, just as they always did. But he couldn’t help that shred of doubt that lingered in him when he thought of Skeeter bringing up Draco’s dark past and having her invade his privacy and ask about him and Harry’s relationship. Which Harry still didn’t know how he was going to answer, he had hoped maybe Draco would just flat out deny it but he had a feeling that Draco was looking to Harry on this one. And Harry didn’t blame him.

He got ready all too quickly but decided to go ahead and arrive at Ron and Hermione’s place early, just so maybe they could calm him down. With one flick on the wand, he was back at their front door of their cute, little white house that they had bought together after they married.

Harry didn’t bother with knocking this time, and walked straight in. He came face to face with Ron holding Elizabeth, bouncing her up and down, he looked up and beamed at Harry, “Look, Elizabeth, it’s your godfather! He’s early, for once in his life.”

Harry smiled and felt himself relax instantly. Elizabeth had grown in the few short days they were apart, and her hair was even longer, too. Her bright blue eyes met Harry’s and she started giggling helplessly, reaching her hands out. Ron noticed her hands and quickly transferred Elizabeth into his own arms.

“Hey there, Elizabeth, how’s life treating you so far?” said Harry, his tone found.

Ron laughed and stood beside him, “I think she’s getting along alright. She’s not a crier, thank goodness but still a lot of work, but well worth it. Hermione is in our room, getting ready. Why are you here so early?”

Harry continued the bouncing that Ron was doing, as Elizabeth seemed to like it, “I was ready early and a bit nervous. And maybe to give you and Hermione a heads up. Draco and I spoke last night and er, well it didn’t go as well as I had hoped.”

Ron looked concerned and was about to say something before Hermione came in the room, looking much more well rested than what she did at the hospital, “Oh, hello Harry, I wasn’t expecting you this early.”

“Yeah, Harry was just saying that he and Draco spoke last night and it didn’t go as planned.” said Ron, with an amused grin.

Harry flushed, “It’s not like that. Well, sort of. It’s complicated.”

Just then, Elizabeth yawned and was starting to doze off, her tiny head resting on Harry’s shoulder.

“I’m going to put her down for a nap, hopefully she’ll sleep through the entire interview. Then you can tell Ronald and I what happened.” said Hermione and took Elizabeth from Harry.

Harry smiled ruefully at Elizabeth, missing her presence. She was quite calming.

“Come into the living room.” said Ron and Harry followed him. Ron sat on a wooden, dark brown rocking chair while Harry took the black couch.

“So, nervous then, mate?” asked Ron, folding his hands in his lap and laying his elbows on his kee.

“A bit, yeah. I don’t want to mess this up and you know how I get when I get frustrated. I tend to say the wrong thing. Rather, the right thing but in a very angry tone.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. Hermione and I will be here and I’m sure Malfoy really doesn’t want to mess this up. His reputation is at stake.” said Ron.

Harry nodded, “Yeah, even after our argument last night, I think he’s going to be more focused on the interview and his reputation.”

Just then, Hermione walked back in the living room and sat on the other end of the couch, drawing her legs up, “What did you two get into an argument about?”

Harry’s face flushed, “Er, well. Okay. It’s kind of odd, really. He first asked me about what were going to say to Skeeter about our relationship since she will ask about it. I told him we could decline to comment, but he said that would be suspicious. Then he said he was concerned about my reputation and then I told him to just deny it. But then he said it was a shame that he had to deny it. And that was basically him trying to admit that I wanted to shag him.”

“Bloody hell, he’s one manipulative bloke. Did you admit it?” asked Ron.

“Yes. I didn’t see the harm in that. But there is where the argument started is when I refused to shag him before the interview and for us to wait until things die down because there were more important things to focus on. He said that what I said was basically rubbish and that I thought he was self-absorbed or something. I don’t know, he twisted my words around very well.” said Harry, sighing, realizing that the argument really made no sense when he played it back.

“I think it’s smart that you wanted to wait. It could have been obvious you guys were together if you decided to shag last night and then had the interview.” said Hermione, thoughtfully.

“That’s what I thought too, but Draco doesn’t see it that way. He didn’t even care about what he wanted though, he was so concerned that I wanted him. That’s when I knew he was doing this out of guilt and felt like he didn’t deserve to be wanted or something.” said Harry.

“So, he doesn’t really want to shag you?” asked Ron, looking confused.

“He said that he did want me, before I left and that he didn’t know why. I told him to figure it out,” Harry shrugged, “But I don’t really want just a one night stand with him. If we’re going to be involved, I want it to be a relationship.”

“Harry, do you think it’s smart to get involved with Draco, at least in that way?” asked Hermione.

Harry thought for a moment, on a surface level, it wasn’t smart. It would seem like it would be Draco getting the best end of the deal if they were in a relationship. But Harry felt like he could gain something from Draco, understanding. And if Draco learned how to properly maintain a relationship, he could give so much more.

“At the moment, no. I think it would be better to just stay friends with him, maybe take him out on dates to show him what it’s like to be treated right and some people just like to give and expect nothing in return. I don’t know what it is about him, but I want to do all of this for him.” said Harry.

“Do whatever you think is best, mate. We’ll stand beside you. But I’ll still hex him if he hurts you.” said Ron, smiling.

Harry smiled back, “Thanks, Ron.”

Just then, a knock on the door and all three of them stood up immediately. Hermione looked at them both and went to answer the door.

“Do you think it will be awkward between you two?” whispered Ron.

“I have no idea.” replied Harry, his stomach suddenly in knots.

“Thank you for letting us use your home, Hermione.” said Draco, as both he and Hermione came back into the living room. Draco locked eyes with Harry but quickly looked away back to Hermione.

“Oh, no trouble at all, Draco. Would you like some tea?” asked Hermione.

“That would be great, thanks.” said Draco.

Hermione went into the kitchen to make some tea and Draco straightened out his shoulders and turned to him and Ron. Harry knew he was putting on some sort of bravado, to make it look like their conversation last night didn’t affect him at all. But Harry knew better than that, he knew that Draco was still trying to get out of his head what Harry said to him.

“Harry. Ron.” said Draco, nodding his head.

“Er, hello… Draco. Wow, that’s going to take a while for me to get used to. I don’t think I’ve ever used your first name before.” said Ron, looking remarkably distraught.

Draco smirked but didn’t comment on that, “So, when is that Skeeter woman going to be here?”

“She should be here any minute now.” said Harry, voice strained but refusing to break any type of eye contact with Draco, wanting to show him that two can very much play at that game.

Draco nodded and stood where he was, taking in his surroundings. The Weasley/Granger household was filled with family pictures every where. Some were taken from Hogwarts, during the times when all their lives weren’t in danger (which was hardly ever) and they had photo’s from Ron and Hermione’s wedding and pictures from Christmases and birthdays. Their home was definitely one of a loving family.

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door, everyone froze and looked around, not wanting to make the first move.

Hermione then came rushing in, “Everyone sit down and take their places! Stop looking so frightened! She can probably smell fear!” And ran right back out to go answer the door.

Harry couldn’t help but laugh at Hermione’s antics and went over to the couch to sit back where we was before. Draco took a seat in the middle of the couch and Ron sat back in his chair.

“Your home is simply wonderful, Mrs. Granger! So many pictures!” said Rita Skeeter, coming into view. She was wearing a deep green blouse with a black fur coat, a brown pencil skirt and heels that matched her blouse. She was also wearing her signature glasses, her eyes piercing out of them. Her Quick Quill was floating beside her, ready to write whenever Skeeter gave the command.

“Thank you, Ms. Skeeter, please take a seat next to Draco. Would you like some tea? I was just about to give Draco his cup.” said Hermione, gesturing her to the couch.

“That would be lovely.” replied Skeeter, sitting down next to Draco. Hermione quickly hurried out of the room at her reply “Ah, young Mr. Malfoy. It’s been ages. Why, just yesterday you were giving me information about Harry Potter and now you’re on the same couch as him.”

Harry could feel Draco stiffen instantly, “Yes, it does seem not that long ago.”

Skeeter smiled, “Harry Potter! So good to see you, darling. I was so happy to receive your owl! I know I’m the right person to tell this story”

Harry smiled back stiffly, “Nice to see you too, Ms. Skeeter.”

Harry thought she was right about one thing, she would be the right person to tell this story. Even though Rita Skeeter was a horrible journalist, everyone read her articles.

“And Ron Weasley!” she hesitated, “It’s… lovely to see you, dear.”

“You too, Ms. Skeeter.” said Ron, with an amused grin on his face.

“Tea for everyone!” shouted Hermione, coming back in, a tray floating around so everyone could grab their cup.

“Ah, thank you, dear. Now, shall we get started?” said Skeeter, her Quick Quill perking up, ready to write.

“Er, actually Ms. Skeeter, do you think we could do without your Quick Quill? I would rather it be our words, you see.” said Harry.

“Mr. Potter, I assure you-”

“It’s alright, Harry. Ms. Skeeter can use her Quick Quill.” said Draco, smoothly.

Draco looked back at Harry, raising an eyebrow. Harry was momentarily confused, but it clicked right away, Draco gave Hermione a truth telling potion and put it in Skeeter’s tea.

“Are you sure, Draco? I mean, how can we trust her?” said Harry, faking uncertainty.

“I think Ms. Skeeter wants to tell the whole truth and I trust that she will.” said Draco and gave Skeeter a charming smile.

“Why thank you, Mr. Malfoy! Your faith in me is flattering!” said Skeeter.

“Of course. Now, shall we begin?”

“Yes! Well, I think our readers would first like to know how is it you two reconnected after all this time?” asked Skeeter, crossing her legs and putting her hand under her chin.

“Actually, it was by accident. I went into the Auror office because the Head of Department ordered something from me. I went in there rather late, but hoping to catch him in time but the only person left in there was Harry. It unfolded from there.” said Draco.

“I see.” said Skeeter, her quill scratching away, “Now Harry, despite Draco’s past, you were able to form a friendship with him or was it a while before you two were able to get along?”

“I forgave Draco a long time ago. It has been seven years since the war and I want to move on. There was no anger left in me and I understand why Draco acted the way he did for so long. The important thing now is that he has changed and realized his mistakes.” said Harry, rather impressed at himself for sounding so confident.

“Interesting. Yes, very interesting.” said Skeeter, looking a bit distressed. Harry knew it was because of the truth potion., she was trying to get her Quill to lie but couldn’t. She probably even knew she was given a truth serum, but Harry wouldn’t put it above her that she was trying to make it look like the potion wasn’t taking effect.

“Now, I must ask you Mr. Malfoy. You did some terrible things during your time at Hogwarts. Harry said that you wanted to share your side. What made you want to tell your story?” asked Skeeter.

“It’s hard walking down the streets and being called every foul name in the book. I get things thrown at me. It’s hard to live my life. I know that all of this is well deserved but I feel like I should have a chance to get my side of the story out there and then have everyone else decide if I’m getting what I deserve.” said Draco.

“Ah, and you all believe Mr. Malfoy here?” asked Skeeter, pointing a finger and waving it around to gesture at Harry, Hermione and Ron.

“I do, yes.” said Harry.

“I believe Draco is telling the truth.” said Hermione.

“Yeah, I do.” said Ron.

Skeeter nodded, “Uh-huh. So, Mr. Malfoy, this is where I ask you your story. Why do you want us to believe that you are a changed man?”

Draco took a deep breath, “I grew up in a family of Dark Wizards who believed that Pure-Bloods were superior. I had that thrusted on me since I was a boy. Of course, I believed my father, what little boy wouldn’t? After the Dark Lord came back, my father rejoined him, simply out of fear he would kill me and my family if we didn’t. To get back at my father, the Dark Lord made me a Death Eater and gave me the job to kill Dumbledore. That was when I realized that I could never be a Dark Wizard. I never had it in me. I had ignorance. And I was terrified, but I was never evil. I payed for my fathers mistakes.”

“What happened to you after the Battle at Hogwarts? Your family vanished, then your father was killed and then you appear out of thin air. Care to explain?” asked Skeeter.

“We went into hiding. We had no choice. The other Death Eaters were furious at my father. At one point, my mother found a hiding spot for us. My father fled soon after out of fear and I never saw him again. We came out of hiding shortly after he died.” said Draco.

“All the ignorance and forgive me for saying this Mr. Malfoy, but I met you while in school and were a very keen boy who wanted to see Mr. Potter here suffer very much. How are we supposed to believe that you changed, just like that?” asked Skeeter.

“The war changed everyone, including me. I learned that it was not good to be feared, that you will gain more enemies than friends. After years of hiding, being in isolation, I realized I wanted friends. I wanted to be loved, to have a family, to have a job. My father, while I loved him, was a coward. I won’t deny what he was. Or what I was. But I want to learn from his and my mistakes. I just want to live a normal life. And I want to let people know how sorry I am. For everything I have ever done. I assure everyone that I am still haunted by my actions but I will spend the rest of my life trying to redeem myself.” said Draco.

There were tears in Skeeter’s eyes, “Oh, how very brave of you, Mr. Malfoy! The readers will love this and I am sure you will be forgiven.”

Harry was a little uneasy about Skeeter’s outright display of emotion but he remembered that she was on a truth potion and that anything she would hide normally is suddenly coming out. Skeeter was definitely a woman who likes to lie for the sake of making herself look good.

“I hope you are right.” said Draco, smiling softly.

After a few more sniffles, Skeeter cleared her throat, “Well, I am sure you both know that I have a certain obligation to my readers. Harry it is rumored that you are, I believe the term is called, bisexual? Meaning you like two genders?”

Harry took a deep breath, while this wasn’t a secret, he had never actually publicly announced it. And he also knew what question was going to follow that one.

“Yes, that is correct.” said Harry.

“And Mr. Malfoy?” asked Skeeter.

“I like blokes.” shrugged Draco, acting nonchalant and pulling it off very well.

“So, of course I have to ask, is there anything going on between you two, romantically?” asked Skeeter.

Harry’s mind went into overdrive. If the complete honest answer was no, then why was he so stuck on how to answer the question? Harry knew deep down the reason was because he wanted to be romantically involved with Draco, but he couldn’t just say that, not here. He wasn’t going to tell Draco he had feelings for him during an interview.

So of course, the logical explanation would be to deny it. But why wasn’t Harry speaking up?

Draco looked over at him and rolled his eyes, so only he could see, “No, we are not. Harry and I are just friends.”

Harry let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, he was glad he wasn’t the one to say it. He didn’t know why but he could not bring himself to deny it. Mainly because he wanted it to be true and he didn’t know where Draco stood on the situation. He had not talked to him about what they argued about last night. For all Harry knew, Draco could have completely changed his mind and decided he didn’t actually want him.

“Oh, what a pity. It would have been great front page news. Two people, once enemies and now lovers…” said Skeeter, her mind clearly on the fantasy of having the biggest scandal the Wizarding World has seen since the Battle. But they wouldn’t give her that satisfaction, if he and Draco were ever to become a couple, he wouldn’t publicly announce it.

Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats as Skeeter seemed to be in her own little world, Hermione cleared her throat and that seemed to bring her back, “Ah, yes! Silly me. Oh, Mr. Malfoy, I have some more questions for you. Only the full and complete truth for my readers!”

“Of course.” said Draco, Harry clearly sensing his annoyance. Harry couldn’t blame him, not one of them wanted to be here today and discuss personal matters with the one person who didn’t care about their well beings at all.

“Your father was killed by Auror’s, as everyone knows. But I have to ask, are you saddened by his death? Happy? Relieved? No one would blame you, if you were. He did do some terrible things.”

Harry felt Draco stiffen by his side once more and silently hoped that this wouldn’t get ugly. But in Harry’s world, things got ugly, fast.

“Yes, of course I am saddened by his death. He was my father. I would not wish him dead. I have always wanted a relationship with my father but never got one, not the one I was searching for. That is what saddens me the most. I lost my only chance at a father. I couldn’t reach out to him in fear of my mother’s life after he went running. The only thing that I am relieved at is that he doesn’t have to run anymore or live in fear.” said Draco, finishing in a voice so slow, Harry had to concentrate very hard to hear.

“So what you are saying dear, is that your father wouldn’t have a life worth living if he was alive?” asked Skeeter, tilting her head, innocently.

Before Harry could step in, Draco went to his feet, “Of course not! He had a mother and a son. We needed him but he left us because he was afraid. He had everything to live for! We just weren’t enough for him. I would have given anything to have him stick with us and fight it together but he decided to leave and fight on his own. My mother lost a husband, a husband she loved so dearly she stayed with him through the whole war when she could have left. He had love, so much love and that is something to live for, I’ve learned.” said Draco, his voice scratchy and Harry knew he was trying his hardest not to cry.

Draco was breathing deeply and no one was making any sort of move or noise. Hermione had her hand over her mouth, tears stinging her eyes. Ron’s jaw was open, shocked at seeing the once emotionless Draco Malfoy have an emotional outburst.

Draco looked around at everyone and quickly walked out of the room and out the front door, everyone jumping when is slammed.

“Oh, dear.” said Skeeter, as she put her hand to her cheek.

Harry quickly stood up, “I’ll go and sort him out. Hold on.”

Once he was out the door, he saw Draco standing on the porch, hands on the railings and his head hanging low. Draco knew that Harry was there, he could tell by the way Draco’s head slightly lifted, but dropped back down again.

Harry tentatively took steps towards Draco, not really knowing what to say but wanting to be there for him. Once he was at his side, he folded his hands on top of the railing and looked out into the street. Little houses lined up, with picture perfect front lawns with the greenest grass and the brightest flowers growing along the edges.

“I’m sorry I lost it. I just… didn’t like the way she said that. I didn’t like the way she implied that me and my mother were practically nothing so that’s why my father left.” said Draco, in a hushed voice.

Harry looked over at him, “It’s okay. Honestly, I would have reacted exactly the same. If not, worse. She was out of line and it’s alright to lose it sometimes.”

Draco chuckled, “I’m supposed to be the one who has it together.”

“Maybe back then, but no one expects that of you now. And if anyone does, you don’t need them in your life. No one is supposed to always have it together.” said Harry, fully facing Draco at this point.

Draco sighed and faced Harry, “I know. I just feel like a complete idiot for what happened back there,” He turned his head to look out into the street, “I denied our relationship. I thought that would make you happy.”

Harry laughed, “Draco, what you said was the truth. I’m a private person but I never deny things that are true. If we were in a relationship, I would have said so.”

Draco looked at him quizzically, “And last night?”

“Was you simply getting me to admit that I wanted to shag you.” stated Harry.

“I admit, that didn’t go the way I hoped.” said Draco, looking sad.

“And what were you hoping for?”

“Obviously us shagging.” said Draco, tone half-annoyed.

“As I said, I want to but not until-”

“Yes, yes. Not until things have died down, I get the picture.” said Draco, waving a hand.

“No, let me finish. I want to, but not until I can take you out on a date. A proper one.” said Harry.

Draco’s jaw instantly fell and Harry wished he had a camera because the look on Draco’s face was priceless. Harry had to hold back a laugh because he wanted to show Draco how serious he was about this.

“I’m sorry, it sounded like you wanted to take me out on a date?” asked Draco.

“That’s what I said, yes.” said Harry.

“But why?”

“I’m guessing you don’t know what it’s like to be cared for and to have things be done for you. I want to show you that.” said Harry.

“I’m not some damsel in distress, Harry.” said Draco, looking annoyed.

“Oh, trust me, I know you’re no damsel,” Harry’s eyes raking up and down Draco, “But it’s something everyone should experience. Let me take you out on a date. I like spending time with you.”

Draco visibly gulped when Harry so obviously checked him out, “Okay, fine. I’ll go on a date with you. But I’m not a cheap date, I expect to be fully wine and dined.”

“Well, nothing less for Draco Malfoy.” said Harry, sarcastically.

“Exactly,” said Draco, eyebrows shooting up, clearly dismissing that Harry wasn’t being serious, “I guess we should go back in there. I hope she’s done asking questions.”

Harry nodded sympathetically, “Me too. Good idea there, by the way, putting the truth potion in and waiting for me to say something about her Quill. Very convincing.”

“Yes, it was, wasn’t it?” said Draco, smiling, opening the door and letting Harry go in first.

Harry rolled his eyes but smiled fondly and went inside, Draco following right behind him. They entered the room to see Hermione sitting rather awkwardly and Ron playing with a piece of string on his sleeve while Skeeter was thinking and her Quill fast at work.

Skeeter spoke up first, “There you two are! Draco, dear, I didn’t mean to make you upset. I just wanted clarification.”

Draco went to sit on the couch, “It’s alright, Ms. Skeeter, sorry for the outburst.”

“Not at all,” said Skeeter, waving a hand in the air, “I think we are about to wrap up here. But I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything you wanted to say to our readers before I go?”

“Actually, there was something I would like to say, on the behalf of Draco.” said Harry, before Draco could have time to speak up.

Draco looked at him, raising an eyebrow with the look of curiosity.

“Of course, go ahead, dear.” said Skeeter, eagerly.

“Seven years ago, I wouldn’t have believed anyone who said I would be friends with Draco Malfoy later in my life. But now me and him are very good friends. What happened between Draco and I was personal. If I could forgive Draco and move on from the events that happened, then so should everyone else. Draco is not a threat to anyone. I may have been the Boy Who Lived, but Draco is the Boy Who Had No Choice. But now he has one and he’s choosing to be good and that takes more courage to do than to give into the temptations of doing bad.” said Harry, feeling satisfied with the way the worded his little speech.

Harry locked eyes with Draco and he saw Draco’s jaw slacken and his eyes shining with something that wasn’t quite tears but maybe somewhere along the line of gratitude. He gave a nod to Harry, a thank you for his words. Harry smiled at him, wanting to let him know that he was there for Draco, no matter what.

“Very well spoken, Mr. Potter!” said Skeeter, clapping her hands together, “Well, I think I’ve gotten everything I need here. The article should be published by tomorrow and then we shall see the public's verdict on Mr. Malfoy. But I must say, anyone would be a fool not to believe you.”

Draco stood up with Skeeter and held out his hand, which she took gladly, “Thank you for letting me share my story.”

“Not at all, dear! It was a pleasure!” said Skeeter, quickly going over to give Ron a kiss on the cheek and Hermione a hug.

“Always a pleasure, to see the Golden Trio!” said Skeeter, finally rounding to Harry and giving him a big kiss on the cheek, which she rubbed her thumb with to get her lipstick off of him.

“I’ll walk you out, Ms. Skeeter.” said Hermione.

“Oh, thank you dear!”

Hermione, Skeeter and Ron went to walk to the door and Draco and Harry stood in the living room in silence.

“Well, honestly, that could have gone a lot worse.” said Harry, folding his arms.

Draco sighed and came up next to Harry, “I suppose you’re right. I was counting on you being the one to lose his temper though.”

“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll probably see me lose it plenty of times. Everyone tells me it’s rather short.” said Harry.

“Lucky for you I have my almost always incredible patience.” said Draco.

“Yeah, lucky me.” said Harry, amused.

“So about this date?” asked Draco.

“Friday. I’ll pick you up at nine.”

“Well, then I suppose it’s a date then.” said Draco.

“Scared, Malfoy?”

“You wish.”

* * *

“Really, Harry, stop fussing. You’ll do fine.” said Hermione, standing outside Harry’s bathroom, waiting for him to come out after doing his hair the hundredth time.

“I’m _not_ fussing!” said Harry, yanking the door open to his bathroom, pushing past Hermione into his room to find a pair of clothes that she selected for his date.

“Yes, you are. Come here!” said Hermione, pulling his arm to he could face her.

“What?!” yelled Harry, she ignored him and ran her fingers through his hair a few times. Ruffling it up on the top but making sure his fringe was laying perfectly to this side.

“There! I told you to stop fussing. You didn’t make me come here before your date for nothing, you know.” said Hermione, folding her arms.

Harry grunted and turned to change his clothes. He didn’t bother to be modest, it was Hermione and he’s pretty sure she’s seen him naked over a dozen times.

He was grateful that she was here though, even if he wasn’t showing it. He may have acted confident in asking Draco on a date but the truth is, he was a nervous wreck. He never really asked anyone out on a date before. Let alone Draco Malfoy.

He felt like he was going to be sick.

“I made the reservations for you. In a muggle restaurant, so you won’t be disturbed during your meal. Appration point is 41 Beak Street. “ said Hermione.

“Hermione, you are a saint.” said Harry, buttoning his shirt.

The truth was, Harry didn’t prepare for this date at all, even though he knew it was important for him and Draco. He just didn’t know where to have dinner. It was hard enough to go out as Harry Potter as it was but to go out as Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy would be impossible. Especially after the article that was published by Rita Skeeter.

The day after the interview, when Harry went into work, he had gotten more stares than usual. He then got bombarded by questions from other Aurors asking what the hell was he doing conspiring with a former Death Eater. He ignored them and Ron told them to piss off.

On the bright side, however, he did get the few people who actually believed Draco and told him as such. He was grateful for these people and he hoped that they were trying to convince the others as well.

With everything going on surrounding the article, he hadn’t had time to really think about a place to eat for the night of the date. He had asked Hermione to come to his flat an hour before the date, she was always good at things like this and he knew Ron could handle Elizabeth for an hour.

He glanced at the clock, 8:53PM. He had to leave in a few minutes. He gulped, his stomach in huge knots.

Hermione took him by the shoulders, “Listen to me Harry Potter, I haven’t seen you this nervous since… Well, the Battle really. But this is easier than the Battle. You don’t need to be the hero. You just need to be Harry. Draco likes you just fine and this is your chance at something real. I never would have imagined but you two are good for each other. You’ll do great, I know you will.”

Harry instantly relaxed at Hermione’s words, “Thanks, Hermione. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Hermione shrugged, “Be a lonely old man for the rest of your life?”

“Probably, yeah.” said Harry, laughing.

He looked at the clock again, 8:57PM.

“I better go. I’ll let you know how it goes!” said Harry, and waved his wand.

Hermione stood back and waved at him eagerly, sending her best friend off to battle once more.

* * *

 

Harry was standing outside of Draco’s door at exactly 8:59PM. Before knocking, he quickly looked down at himself, making sure he looked alright. Hermione picked out a pair of black trousers for him, a blue button up and black jacket to go over. It did look really well and he wondered why he wasn’t even remotely capable of dressing himself.

At 9:00PM, he took a deep breath, and lifted his hand to knock on the door.

After a few seconds, the door opened to a very good-looking and well dressed Draco Malfoy. He was wearing dark grey trousers, a dark green button up, and a jacket that seemed to match his trousers to the tee. His hair was slicked back and Harry could not get enough of his blue eyes and very defined jaw-line.

“Hello, Harry. You look nice.” said Draco.

Harry cleared his throat, “Thank you, so do you. Ready?”

Draco nodded, “Where are we going?”

Draco quickly stepped out of the door and right beside Harry.

“It’s a muggle restaurant. I wanted the privacy.” said Harry, telling himself the Draco didn’t need to know that he wasn’t the one that came up with idea.

Draco lifted an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything and Harry took it as it queue to apparate them to the restaurant.

Harry decided to make the first move of the evening and quickly grabbed Draco’s hand in his, and waved his wand once more.

In an instant, they were outside a restaurant, with the name in yellow lights that read, Polpo Soho.

Harry smiled and didn’t let go of Draco’s hand, but Draco wasn’t protesting. Harry started walking towards the entrance, pulling Draco along.

Harry quickly pulled open the door, “After you.”

Draco gave a nervous smiled and walked in and Harry followed.

Once in, they were greeted by a hostess, “Hello, did you have a reservation?”

“Yes, er, Potter.” said Harry, knowing full well that his name had no meaning here but he couldn’t help but be hesitant.

The blonde girl, no older than twenty-five quickly looked down at the list in front of the podium, “Ah yes, Harry Potter for two. Right his way, gentlemen, if you please.”

She started to walk and Harry put his hand on the small of Draco’s back guiding him along. Draco jumped a bit at the contact, but instantly relaxed which made Harry smile.

The hostess led them all the way to the back of the restaurant and motioned them to sit at a table, which was just big enough for two people and had a candle in the center.

“You waiter will be with you momentarily. Enjoy.” smiled the hostess and walked off.

Harry thought about getting Draco’s chair for him but thought that would be a step too far. He wanted to treat Draco right but he knew that Draco would find Harry holding out his chair for him as a sign of incompetence and he really didn’t want to rub Draco the wrong way tonight.

Harry looked at the menu in front of him and saw that his place had Italian food and he silently thanked Hermione again because everyone liked pasta. He didn’t even think to ask Draco what food he preferred. Come to think of it, he didn’t know much about Draco’s likes and dislikes and he made a mental note to introduce him to the game of twenty questions during their date.

“I got to admit, Harry, I’m impressed.” said Draco, scanning the menu.

“Thank you. And don’t be shy, get whatever you would like.” said Harry, knowing that Draco probably had no idea how Muggle money worked. But Harry always kept some on him because he often went out in Muggle London just to walk the streets and eat.

“I plan to.” said Draco, smirking.

Harry rolled his eyes and just then, the waiter came and placed two glasses of water in front of them, “Hello, I’m Eric and I’ll be serving you this evening. Would you like to start out with anything? Wine, perhaps?”

Harry looked at Draco, “Actually, yes, that sounds great. We’ll have whatever wine you think is best.”

The waiter smiled, “Sounds great, I’ll be right back with that and to take your orders.”

“Well, you did say wine and dine.” said Harry and shrugged.

Draco laughed, “I suppose I did. Do you know what you’re getting?”

Harry looked at his menu, “This slice of steak with truffle cream actually sounds good. You?”

“The cuttlefish sounds good to me.” said Draco, and put his menu down, his mind made up.

Harry put his down as well, “Great. So how is the whole potions master thing going?”

“Really? We’re starting on the topic of work?”

Harry held up his hands, “Hey, it’s a good ice breaker. I could have started you out with a game of twenty questions but I thought we should stick with what we know.”

Draco’s eyebrows shot up, “Twenty questions?”

“It’s just a game that a lot of Muggles use to get to know each other. Basically you just ask twenty questions about each other. Nothing too deep. It’s just so you get to know the other person on a surface level. Which we really don’t know yet. We sort of skipped right to the deep, this fucked me up as a kid stuff.” said Harry.

Draco laughed, “I guess that it is a good thing, though. We know the worst of each other so now we can learn what each other’s likes and dislikes are.”

“My point exactly.” said Harry.

The waiter then came back to their table and set two wine glasses in front of them and poured them each a glass of red wine. He asked for their orders and they both read them off and he took their menu’s.

They both grabbed their glasses and raised them to each other.

“Wow, this is bloody good wine.” said Harry.

“It is quite good.” said Draco, not sounding that impressed.

“I have a feeling you and your family had impeccable taste when it came to wine and food.” said Harry.

Draco nodded, “Yes. I won’t deny my family and I are rich. We spoiled ourselves a lot. But I never thought anything of it, really. I have money to last me a several lifetimes. I work because I enjoy it."

Harry knew all too well about that, “I’m actually very wealthy, too. Which probably isn’t a surprise but I can relate. Although, I didn’t know I was rich until I was eleven and realized my parents left me loads of money for me. And then I just got more as the years went on and being an Auror does pay very well, but I don’t do it for the money.”

“You like going out and chasing Dark Wizards and putting yourself in danger?” asked Draco.

“I mean, is it really surprising? I spent six years of my life fighting the most evil wizard of all time. If I beat him, well honestly I think I can beat anyone by this point.” said Harry, shrugging.

“You have a point. I just don’t understand going out and putting yourself in danger.” said Draco.

“I guess I don’t see it in exactly that way. I do it because I don’t want to see other people getting hurt. Someone has to stop the bad guys.” said Harry.

Draco nodded, taking another sip of his wine, “Have you been receiving backlash from the article?”

Harry frowned, “Yes. Negative and positive. Aurors have a very limited perspective but some said they believed you. Some are angry with me but I don’t care very much. What about you?”

Draco shrugged, “A bit more stares than usual. Some actually look confused, like they don’t know what to believe. Some are looking at me with sympathy. One woman came up to me and shook my hand and told me she forgave me. It was rather… Odd.”

“I think that’s good. More people are starting to open up their minds. They now have an another view which they have to take into account. More people will start accepting it. It just takes time.” said Harry.

“I really hope you are right. At least I know something good came out of all of this.” said Draco.

“What’s that?” asked Harry, raising an eyebrow.

Draco lifted his wine glass, “I get wine and dined but the famously charming Harry Potter.”

Harry smiled, “Just Harry. But you can keep the charming in there, I rather like that.”

“Well alright then, Just Harry, let’s play this twenty question came you were talking about. It sounds interesting. Are there rules?”

“No, not really. I’ll start out with a question, you answer it and then you can ask me a question. It’s very simple.” said Harry.

“Okay then, let’s start.”

“Right. Okay. What’s your favorite color?” asked Harry.

“At the moment? Blue,” said Draco, “Night or morning person?”

Harry flushed, “Night person, definitely. Favorite thing you own?”

“My book collections. I very much like to read. First kiss?”

“Er, Cho Chang.” said Harry, race reddening.

Draco laughed, “That’s fantastic.”

“Shut up, it’s my turn.” said Harry.

“By all means, ask away.” said Draco, gesturing with his hand.

They continued to play twenty-questions until their food arrived. In that time, Harry learned that Draco loved to read, he drank tea at least five times a day, he goes to bed usually around one in the morning, he hates cats but loves owls, his favorite place to go on holiday is wizarding Paris during the summer and he likes to sleep on his stomach.

The meals were ate in mostly silence, Harry not minding because his food was tasting too good for him to even stop to talk. By the looks of his, Draco was in the same boat and they both seemed content to eat their meals silently.

By the time they were done eating, the wine bottle on the side of their table was all gone and Harry was full and felt the wine work its magic. He felt pleasant and very relaxed. Draco even seemed to be quite relaxed as well, his elbows on the table, folded hands underneath his chin but his eyes were a little hazy.

The waiter came back and gave them their check and took away their plates. Harry quickly pulled out his wallet and put the right amount of money and left a generous tip for the waiter.

“Shall we?” asked Harry.

Draco nodded and they both stood up, Harry a little unsure on his feet but wasn’t nearly as drunk as he could have been.

“What are we doing now?” asked Draco.

“I thought we could just walk around. It’s a nice night.” said Harry.

Draco didn’t say anything but followed Harry out of the restaurant and into the streets where they walked for several blocks, in silence but Harry finally plucked up the courage to grab Draco’s hand once more. He missed the feeling of it when he had to let go earlier and he found that he very much liked holding hands with him.

Harry looked over and Draco and there was a small smile playing at his lips which made Harry very pleased with himself. Knowing that he could make Draco smile made his heart soar and pound so loudly he could feel it in his whole body. Harry was actually happy.

After minutes of walking, they finally reached what Harry was hoping to find, the Thames. They walked up to a railing that looked over into the water. To the right of them was the London Eye, lighting up the water. Harry really thought London was beautiful.

“I’ve never been out much in Muggle London.” said Draco.

“I love it. It’s where no one knows who I am and I can walk the streets without stares. I grew up in the Muggle world, thinking there was no such thing as magic or a world like ours.” said Harry.

“I could never imagine that. All I’ve ever known was my world. It’s actually nice to see another. I can see the appeal. It is nice to walk down the street without anyone looking at me with disgust.” said Draco.

Harry squeezed Draco’s hand, silently telling him he was there for him, that he didn’t think of him in such a way.

“Thank you. For dinner. And this. It was actually very nice.” said Draco.

Harry turned to face him, “Good, I’m glad. But next time, it’s you who gets to wine and dine me.”

“Next time?” asked Draco, looking confused.

“Well, I would hope so. See, first dates usually follow up with second dates.” said Harry.

Draco nudged his shoulder with Harry’s, “Smart arse. I just didn’t think you would want a second date.”

“Of course I am. And of course I do. I didn’t do this just to toy with your emotions Draco. I really like you.” said Harry.

Draco stared down at his feet, “I like you, too. I promise our next date will be the best you’ve ever had.”

“You better hope so. I’m Harry bloody Potter.” said Harry, giving a false bravado to his voice.

“No, you’re just Harry.” said Draco, smiling.

“Ah, look who is catching on.” said Harry, pulling Draco closer to him.

“Trying to make a move?” asked Draco, smirking.

“I am not above kissing on the first date. Actually, I think I encourage it more than anything.”

“Is that so?” asked Draco, putting his hand on Harry’s waist, his face just inches away from Harry’s.

“Yes. Now shut it and kiss me.” said Harry.

Draco laughed but finally closed the gap between them and Harry felt his heart in his throat as Draco’s lips touched his. They were soft and light and more than Harry was hoping for. Draco’s tongue quickly flicked out to stroke Harry’s lip and he quickly opened his mouth more to let Draco inside.

There was no battle for dominance but their tongues were dancing with each other and it was the most perfect thing Harry had ever experienced. Draco tasted like the wine they drank at dinner and he swore that he was getting even more drunk from the taste of it.

After about a minute, they broke apart and Draco rested his head against Harry’s, breath coming out in short pants.

“You are brilliant, you know that?” said Harry, smiling.

Draco flushed, “You really do know how to make a bloke feel special.”

“And I will continue to do so. For as long as said bloke will have me.” said Harry.

“I think I’ll keep you around.” said Draco.

“I can hear the outcries of wizards everywhere.” said Harry.

“They can piss off."

“Draco, that is the best thing you have ever said.”

Draco laughed and pulled Harry in for another searing kiss. Harry didn’t know how long they stood there, bodies close and stealing kisses. But time wasn’t relevant to Harry. The only thing that mattered was Draco.

* * *

 

“IT’S ONE THING TO BE FRIENDS WITH DRACO BLOODY MALFOY BUT _SNOGGING_ HIM AS WELL?” screamed Harry’s Head of Department, Jones, his face turning red. He grabbed the Prophet and shoved it into Harry’s face.

There was a picture of Harry and Draco walking and holding hands and another one of them snogging right in front of the Thames. Harry felt anger boiling up inside of him. He thought that they were both safe from having anyone from the Prophet spying on them. And yet, Harry was angry at himself for assuming other wizards don’t go out into Muggle London just as he did.

“Sir, I didn’t realize that we would be seen. I thought we would be safe outside Wizarding London.” said Harry, finally, eyes not leaving the Prophet.

“Well, you bloody thought wrong. Potter, I’m getting all sorts of accusations thrown at me. They think the Auror Department has been compromised and you’re under the Imperious curse. I know you’re not so tell me, what are you doing with Draco Malfoy?” asked Jones.

“It’s complicated. I don’t see why anyone should care though. We’ve given our statements to the Prophet and people know that Draco is not guilty of anything.” said Harry.

“I know that. You know that. Draco Malfoy knows that. Every other wizard out there doesn’t know that and is scared to death about this.” said Jones, bringing his hands to his head.

“Sir, this is my business. Not anyone else’s. If I need to make a statement in front of the press, I will. I promised Draco I would support him in this. Besides, weren’t you the one ordering potions from him?” said Harry, not giving in. He knew that Jones would try to convince him to end things with Draco but Harry couldn’t. He would rather quit his job than do that.

“That’s different, Potter. I wasn’t on the front of the Prophet, snogging him. It was between me and Malfoy.” said Jones.

“That’s how it was for Draco and I, sir. We want it to be between us only, too.” said Harry.

“Potter, this needs to be fixed. I don’t care how you do it. But the last thing this Department needs is for people to start doubting it. You’re dismissed.” said Jones, turning away from Harry.

Harry felt more anger boil inside of him and quickly turned away from Jones and went out the door. He kept his head down but heard the whispers as he was walking towards the exit, needing to go talk to Draco about this and how he wanted to go about it.

On his way, he ran right into Xander, literally, almost knocking him off his feet.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Harry Potter, Death Eater Lover. You know, I had a feeling something was off about you, when you almost didn’t let me kill that woman, but now you’re taking it to a whole new level.” said Xander, smiling viciously at Harry.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to see Harry’s reaction.

“It is not within our orders to kill Xander, in case you forgot. But you remember now don’t you? I heard this is your last week here.” said Harry, losing patience quickly.

“You watch your mouth, Potter. You’re already on thin ice at the moment. I can’t believe you would go off and fuck a Death Eater.” said Xander, laughing.

“Draco Malfoy is a better man than you will ever be.” snarled Harry, pulling his wand out.

Harry heard several gasps and Xander pulled out his own wand, “So the prat says he’s sorry and he’s forgiven? Do you not forget what he and his family did?”

“You mean, what his father did? Draco is not his father. Draco did what he had to survive, as any of us would have done. I am no saint either. We are all capable of wrong-doing, as you proved to me when you killed that woman. You probably don’t even feel guilty about it. You probably enjoyed it.” taunted Harry.

“She was a worthless piece of Death Eater scum! She deserved to die!” shouted Xander.

“You know who also thought like that? Voldemort.” said Harry and everyone started to break out into quite murmurs.

Xander looked around and dropped his wand by an inch. He started to look more nervous under the angry exterior, “Says the man who killed him! Are you going to tell me that Voldemort didn’t deserve to die?!”

“He was one of the most powerful wizards alive. Azkaban would never be able to hold him. Nothing would. I did what I had to do as a last resort. No one else could have killed him, only I could. But that doesn’t mean I enjoyed it. But you, Xander, killed a woman who held no threat to the entire Wizarding World. Our orders were to capture her and send her to prison and you killed her. Not even Draco Malfoy would do that.” said Harry.

Xander looked as white as a ghost and dropped his wand, he looked angry and walked back into the crowd that gathered around him. Harry lowered his wand and watched him leave and everyone was staring at him.

“Well? What are you all looking at?” said Harry, annoyed.

Everyone broke out of whatever trance they were in and began to get back to whatever they were doing before. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and continued to walk on.

“Harry! Oi!” someone shouted behind him.

Harry tried to pretend like he couldn’t hear but soon the persons hand fell in his shoulders and he spun around to see another Auror, Mike Refferd, looking very out of breath.

“What is it Mike? I’m kind of in a hurry.” said Harry.

“I just wanted to tell you that I believe you and Draco. I mean, you don’t hang around terrible people like Xander. And if you say that he’s changed, I believe you. Loads of us in the department do. We get how Dark Wizards work and Draco was no Dark Wizard. We’ll support the both of you.” said Mike.

Harry instantly felt bad for trying to shake Mike off earlier and felt a rush of gratitude for him and his fellow Aurors, “Thank you, Mike. That means a lot to me, and Draco. Which I really need to go see. I don’t know what we’re going to do now that everyone knows and is freaking out about it.”

Mike nodded, “Of course. If there’s anything you need, Harry, let us know.”

Harry nodded and went off again, feeling a bit better knowing that he had some people that were on his side.

Friday night seemed like a lifetime ago, with him and Draco together and no one else in the world seemed to matter. They stayed at the Thames all night, watching the sun come up and Harry never felt more happier. But now, he had to deal with everyone finding out about them sooner than he expected.

What he needed was to see Draco. He would be more calm and no what to do.

As soon as he stepped out of the Department, he quickly waved his wand and ended up in front of Draco’s door. He quickly started pounding on it.

The door flew open after a few seconds and he pushed past Draco without saying anything.

“Harry? What is it? What’s wrong?” asked Draco, closing the door.

“Someone followed us on Friday night. Our date is all over the Prophet. Including the part where we were snogging. My Head of Department just yelled at me to fix it because now they think the department is compromised which is absolute rubbish. Xander is an absolute idiot and called me a Death Eater Lover. It took everything I could not to just hex him into oblivion. On the plus side, there are people in the department who support us but I still have to get everyone to calm the bloody fuck down when I can’t even get myself to calm the bloody fuck down and who follows someone on a date for Merlin’s sake!” shouted Harry, pacing back and forth.

“Harry. Harry, stop pacing! Look at me.” said Draco, stopping in front of Harry so he couldn’t get anywhere.

“We will figure it out, okay? We’ll think of something. Just calm down.” said Draco, stroking Harry’s arm.

Harry sighed at the contact and stepped towards Draco more, “I knew people weren’t going to be happy about this but I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. I wanted to spend time with you before everyone else got involved.”

Harry pouted and dropped his head onto Draco’s shoulder. Draco brought his hand up and worked through his hair, Harry becoming more relaxed.

“What are you thinking of doing?” asked Draco.

“I think I’m just going to hold a press conference. People are under the assumption that I’m under the Imperious Curse. Bloody idiots. All of them.” mumbled Harry into Draco’s shoulder.

Draco laughed, “Yeah, they really are. I’m sorry that you have to deal with all of this though.”

Harry pulled his head up from Draco’s shoulder, “It’s okay. I’m sure if you stepped outside you would get some of it, too. I want to go talk with Ron and Hermione about this. Come with me?”

Draco nodded, “Of course. We’ll leave right away.”

Draco grabbed Harry’s hand, a jolt went down his spine and he grabbed Draco’s hand hard and waited until they were both standing in front of Ron and Hermione’s door.

Harry didn’t bother to knock, and walked straight in. Draco seemed a little hesitant but followed Harry’s lead.

Harry walked into their kitchen, where he had a feeling both of them would be and they both looked up in surprise at the both of them. Hermione was sitting at the table, with Elizabeth in a high chair, and Ron was making tea.

“Draco, Harry! What are you guys doing here?” asked Hermione.

“Have you seen the Prophet this morning?” asked Harry.

Ron walked over to where they were standing, “No. What’s going on, mate?”

“Someone followed Harry and I on our date on Friday. There is a picture of us snogging in there. Harry’s Head of Department is furious and honestly, I’m concerned about Harry.” said Draco.

Harry ignored the jab at the state of his emotions, he just wanted to talk this all out and have some sort of plan, any plan so he could fix this and he could be left alone to be in a private relationship.

“I’m concerned about Draco. Of course they think he’s putting me under the Imperious Curse and there’s accusations against the Auror Department.” said Harry.

Hermione’s jaw dropped, it took a lot for her to get speechless so Harry knew that Hermione was not expecting this at all.

“Wait, so are you and Draco officially in a relationship? Because you told me you wanted to take him out on a few dates before you started anything serious.” said Ron, looking confused.

Harry groaned, this was not the right time to be talking about the state of his and Draco’s relationship, “I’ll talk about that part later. Can we focus on what I’m going to do to fix this?”

“Wait, hold on. You told them you were what?” asked Draco, now looking slightly angry.

Harry threw his hands up in the air, “Can we please not talk about this right now? Right now I have people probably trying to find me and explain myself and I’m not sure what I’m going to say.”

“Well, that depends Harry, are you or are you not in relationship with Draco?” asked Hermione.

For once, Harry thought it was mistake looking towards Hermione and Ron for advice on what to do.

“Look, Draco and I went out on a date and it went brilliantly and I loved every second of it and of course I want to do it again and again and develop a relationship, yes. We have a relationship, yes. But I don’t know if we’re in one. We haven’t exactly discussed it yet which is why I’m freaking out because I planned to do this a whole lot later.” said Harry, breathing heavily.

“Why are you the only one freaking out, mate? Shouldn’t Draco be to?” asked Ron.

“Draco has a surprisingly calm demeanor.” said Harry.

“Which you are very lucky for because if it wasn’t for my calm demeanor, it would be obvious that I’m really bloody pissed at you.” said Draco.

“Everyone calm down! Especially since Elizabeth is here.” said Hermione. Everyone looked down in shame for forgetting that she was in the room.

“Harry is freaking out because he has to rush to make a decision whether or not he officially is in a relationship. Harry wanted time for him and Draco to figure things out and make sure this is what they both wanted without bringing the press into it. It doesn’t mean his feelings are fake or unsure towards you, Draco. He wanted to make sure your feelings were real, too.” said Hermione.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, now thankful that he was there because Harry couldn’t even have explained his own feelings like that.

“After our date, I thought it would be fairly obvious.” said Draco.

Harry sighed, “It’s not only what Hermione said but the fact that my Department is under question because of me. There are good people in that Department and I don’t want to mess it up for them. If I can fix it and keep my job and maintain the good reputation it has, I would love to do that. If it doesn’t go that way then I will remove myself from the Department if no one can seem to believe me.”

Draco’s eyes widened, “You would quit being an Auror?”

Ron snorted, “Draco, you have no idea how bloody noble Harry is.”

Harry gave him an irritated glance, “If that’s what I had to do to make sure the Department remains the way it is, then yes. I won’t end what we have either just for some job. There’s loads more.”

Draco didn’t say anything but looked humbled by Harry’s confession. They never did discuss feelings of one another between them but Draco has grown to be important to Harry. He felt more than he ever did with anyone else he dated and he would not give that up for his Auror position. He didn’t need the money anyways.

“Before we start to get ahead of ourselves, we should talk about what Harry should do to make sure he keeps his job as an Auror.” said Hermione, always the voice of reason.

“Harry said he wanted to hold a press conference. I don’t know if Harry’s word will be enough, though. They think he is under an Imperious Curse.” said Draco.

“We’ll speak for you both, then.” said Ron.

Hermione nodded, “Absolutely. I’ll drop Elizabeth of at the Burrow. Draco should be there, too.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea, Hermione? They don’t exactly trust Draco.” said Harry.

“We need to all be together in this. If they see we are sure and confident about it, maybe they can be persuaded. It’s worth a try. We’ll be at the Ministry, anyways. I think it’s the best option we’ve got.” said Hermione.

Harry nodded, “Okay, then. It’s settled. Are you okay with it, Draco?”

“Yes. I might as well come out and talk publicly now. Mum is going to have a heart attack when she sees this.” said Draco, looking troubled.

Harry touched his arm lightly, “We’ll all be here for you.”

Which gave Harry the most brilliant idea, if he did say so himself, “Why don’t we ask Neville and Luna to come, too? They both have talked to Draco and I think they both like him. And there are people from the Department that support us. If we have enough people on our side, maybe we can convince them.”

“I think that could work.” said Hermione.

“Okay, we need to write to everyone right away and explain the situation. I need to hold this press conference as soon as possible so tomorrow would be best. If I tell the reporters that Draco and I and everyone else will be there, then they will most definitely come.” said Harry, feeling more sure about his plan and thinking that this just had to work.

“I’ll go get the parchment, mate.” said Ron, clapping Harry on his back as he walked out of the kitchen to get fetch it.

“Do you think all of them will support us Harry, really?” asked Draco.

“Yes. I know they will. Whether you know it or not Draco, you have friends and people on your side now.” said Harry, squeezing his hand.

Draco gave Harry’s hand a tight squeeze back and smiled at him, silently thanking him for the comfort.

When Ron returned with rolls of parchment, they all set to work on writing the letters, each taking turns in entertaining Elizabeth. Ron wrote to Neville, Luna and any of their friends who supported them, Harry wrote to Mike and the others at the Department and Hermione and Draco wrote to the reporters, them sounding the most professional.

Harry needed to convince himself that this was going to work, that people would see them all united once more and everyone would be convinced that Draco was no threat to anyone. Most everyone looked up to Harry and his friends because they all played a significant part in the Battle and were all highly respected. There was no way that everybody was going to turn a blind eye to them.

He also thought about Draco and the issue they had not dealt with: Whether or not they were officially in a relationship. Harry remembered what was said the night of their date but he was so high on endorphins that it all made sense to him but now that he’s in this current situation, he didn’t know what they were. To anyone else, it would seem like a relationship but Harry thought of it only as dating.

And it wasn’t as if Harry didn’t want to be in a relationship with Draco, because he did, he honestly did. Harry was just scared that this was all moving way too fast for him. He wondered if he should slow down and make sure that they can be friends before anything else because if the relationship went bad, he would lose Draco altogether and he didn’t want that.

Of course, the only thing he had to do was vocalize this to Draco but as everyone took witness to, he was complete rubbish at that.

After about an hour of letter writing and nothing but the noise of quills scratching against parchment, they were all finished. Harry took a look at one of each group they were sending the letters out to:

_Dear Mike,_

_You told me to let you know if there was anything you and the ones who support Draco and I could do to help us. There is. Tomorrow I am holding a press conference at the Ministry to try to clear Draco’s name once and for all and it would mean a lot to us if you could be there to say a few words if need be._

_We also invited our friends along to support us as well. We need all the people we can._

_Sorry for the late notice but it would mean a great deal if you and the others could make it._

_Harry Potter_

_Auror._

_Dear Neville,_

_Hello, mate. I hope all is well._

_Harry and I need your help. Or rather, I need your help to help Harry and Draco. I’m sure you’ve read the Prophet by now and Harry is in a real tough position. He is holding a press conference tomorrow to try to clear it all up and we were hoping you could come to say a few words of support for us._

_We are also inviting more members of the DA to come, too. I hope you can make it, mate. We’re really counting on you._

_Ron Weasley_

_Auror_

 

_Dear Harold Longhorn,_

_It is to my understanding that you do reports often for the Daily Prophet and we would like to invite you to the last minute press conference being held tomorrow at the Ministry of Magic. The conference is being held by Harry Potter, myself, Ron Weasley, members of the Auror Department, personal friends and Draco Malfoy._

_The Press Conference will be held at exactly 9:00._

_Hermione Granger_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

“Okay, they all sound great you guys. No offense Ron, I don’t trust your owl. I’m going to use mine and Draco’s to make sure they get sent out.” said Harry.

Ron shrugged, “None taken. He’s a bit of an idiot.”

“We’ll go back to my place first and then we can go to yours, Draco.” said Harry.

"Okay." said Draco.

“We should all meet tomorrow before the conference at eight-thirty at the Ministry. They’ll have it closed off so no one will bother us before we go out.” said Harry.

Hermione and Ron both nodded, looking nervous, yet determined and Harry could honestly say he was feeling the same.

“Right. Let’s go then, Draco. I’ll see you both tomorrow morning.” said Harry.

“Goodbye, Harry. Draco.” said Hermione and waved to them as they both walked out the door and disapparated back to Harry’s flat.

* * *

 

After they went to Harry’s flat, in almost awkward silence because there were so many things that needed to be said, they went back to Draco’s to have his owl deliver the rest of the letters. Rasha took the letters to the reporters, knowing that they were the most important to get to.

Once inside Draco’s, they went to the window where his owl was perched. He was dark brown with black eyes and very beautiful.

“His name is Dox. I got him when I was a boy.” said Draco, petting him affectionately.

“He’s great.” said Harry, handing over the letters for Draco to tie to Dox.

Draco took the letters and tied them to Dox’s legs, “I know it’s a lot but it’s important.”

Dox nipped at Draco’s fingers and flew off.

Harry could feel the tension creep back into the room. He had no idea where to even begin or what they even needed to talk about. But there was something obviously bothering Draco and Harry did want to know.

“You would tell me, Harry, if you didn’t want this, wouldn’t you?” asked Draco, barely talking above a whisper, like the words were hard for him to get out. He wasn’t facing Harry and was still looking out the window.

“Of course, Draco. I wouldn’t have let it get this far if I didn’t want this.” said Harry.

“What is it you exactly want though, Harry? I feel like that’s where we are not seeing eye to eye.” said Draco.

Harry nodded, knowing Draco didn’t see him but agreeing with what he was saying, “I’m just scared we are moving too fast and that it’s just going to end badly. This is something I feel like could be the best thing that’s ever happened to me but I don’t want to ruin in. That’s what I’m scared of.”

Draco turned to face him, “I’m scared you will wake up some day and realize the person I really am and walk away, thinking that you should have done so a lot sooner. For a second I allowed myself think that you had these feelings for me but I’m scared to really feel that.”

Harry’s heart broke at hearing Draco’s confession and stepped closer to him, “Listen to me, I want this. I haven’t wanted this with anyone more than I do with you. If there was any chance of me walking away, I would have done so already. I go off by instinct a lot of the times Draco, and if my instincts told me to run, I would have.”

“What are they telling you, then?” asked Draco.

“To stay. To try to work it out. Even if my instincts are right, it still doesn’t mean I’m not scared to death by them. I’m terrified because I don’t want this to end badly. I just want to take it slow, to make sure I don’t lose you.”

Draco shook his head, “You couldn’t. What I feel for you, Harry, is the strongest I’ve ever felt for anyone. You see me in ways I wish I could see myself. You’ve forgiven me when I still haven’t forgiven myself yet. You’ve given me friends, love and support. I haven’t experienced that in years. I’m scared that I’ll get too used to it and then it will be taken from me somehow.”

“Then we need to agree, Draco. We need to take this slow.” said Harry.

“Then what exactly are we, Harry? Friends? More than friends?” asked Draco, still looking confused.

“We obviously can’t deny that we are more than friends but why put a label on it if we’re not ready to? We can put a label on us when we feel like we’re ready. We tell the press tomorrow that yes, we are more than friends but are taking is slowly. It’s the truth without having to rush into something.” said Harry.

Draco nodded, “I think that could work.”

Harry sighed with relief, “Good.”

“And in terms with physical stuff, what are we at?” asked Draco.

“I think we can be affectionate with each other. How you calmed me down today was good. Snogging is fine. I don’t want to put restrictions on us because anything could happen. I just don’t want us to feel like we have to rush or that we have to be over cautious. Let’s just be Draco and Harry.” said Harry.

“I like that. It could work,” said Draco, “Do you want to stay the night?”

“On your couch or…?”

“Whichever makes you more comfortable. The couch and my bed are both options.” said Draco, shrugging.

“Then yes, I would like to. I don’t really want to be alone right now with so much going on. I’ll get ready here tomorrow and we can go to the ministry together.” said Harry.

“Together.” repeated Draco, smiling.

* * *

 

Harry opened his eyes to another man that morning, specifically, he opened his eyes up to Draco Malfoy, who was still sleeping peacefully. Harry smiled to himself, really enjoying waking up to this. To a Draco Malfoy who didn’t try to keep himself together. To a Draco Malfoy who was vulnerable in this position.

Harry remembered last night, Draco making dinner for them and just being in each other’s company. Not really saying much but enjoying the presence of one another. Harry knew that that was a good sign. He didn’t need to fill the empty spaces with something because they were already filled with Draco.

Draco showed him around more thoroughly in his potions room and looked closely at his extensive book collection which he assured that he actually read them all. He said he had a lot of time on his hands and he enjoyed reading. Harry found it impressive even though Draco was modest about it.

Both of them started getting tired around midnight and decided they should go to sleep. Draco wasn’t sure what Harry was going to do so he got up from the couch and walked to his room. Harry knew that he could either follow Draco or stay on the couch. It took him two seconds before he was up and following Draco. He remembered Draco looking back and seeing that smile on his face, happy that Harry followed him.

Harry stripped down to just his boxers but kept his shirt on and Draco did the same. Harry was tempted but he was too tired and lazy to do anything physical and from the looks of it, so was Draco.

They both got into bed, Draco on the right side, Harry on the left and faced each other. It took all of three seconds for them to burst out laughing at the situation and all tension dissolved. They talked for another twenty minutes until Draco reached for the back of Harry’s neck and began to stroke his nape and Harry was asleep within minutes.

Harry glanced over at the clock Draco had on his nightstand, it read seven o’clock. Without waking Draco, he got out of bed and went into the bathroom. He decided to take a shower so he could wake up a bit and stepped into the hot water.

He was nervous for today, but not as nervous as he was last night. Being with Draco calmed him down. Even if events didn’t unfold like he wanted, Draco would still be there. And so would Hermione and Ron, Neville and Luna and those who supported him at the Department. Harry often forgot himself that he didn’t have to go through any of this alone.

After he was done washing his hair and body, he stepped out and wrapped his waist in a towel and dried his hair with another. He pulled the drawer open underneath the sink and luckily, he found another tooth brush and brushed his teeth.

Harry just finished brushing his teeth when he heard a knock on the door, “Harry?”

“Yeah, sorry. I just had a quick shower.” said Harry, and pulled open the door.

“It’s fine, I wa- Oh, Merlin.”

Draco’s eyes raked over Harry and Harry had to resist the urge to cover up. He didn’t want to hide from Draco, he really wasn’t modest. But he was caught off guard and forgot that underneath all the feelings they had for one another, there was undeniable attraction.

Harry flushed, “Sorry.”

Draco shook his head, “No. Sorry. My fault. I just wanted to see if you wanted something for breakfast.”

“Yeah, that would be great. Toast, if you have it.” said Harry.

“Okay. I’ll make tea, too.” said Draco.

Draco was about to walk away but Harry grabbed his arm, spun him around and pulled him into a kiss, reminding himself that he was allowed to do that with Draco. Just because they didn’t have a label to their relationship, doesn’t mean he couldn’t kiss him whenever he wanted to.

Harry could tell Draco was taken back by the lack of immediate response but after the shock wore off, he eagerly responded to Harry.

After they broke apart, Draco was breathing heavy, “You’re making this taking it slow thing very difficult, I hope you realize that.”

“Great things come to those who wait?” said Harry, teasingly.

“Well, I hope that’s the plan.” said Draco, raising his eyebrows.

Harry pushed him out of the doorway, “Go make breakfast!”

Harry slammed the door and heard Draco laugh from the other side, obviously amused with himself and the joke he just made. Harry rolled his eyes and laughed along as well.

That warmth he felt before came back to him, like someone went inside him and made all his worries in the world disappear. He was rather fond of that feeling and noticed it was only ever present when Draco was around.

Harry took off the towel and pulled back on his boxers and shirt and walked back into the kitchen area where Draco was pouring tea. He was also still in his boxers and white t-shirt, looking absolutely gorgeous for someone who just woke up.

Draco handed Harry a mug and he mumbled a “Thanks” and took a generous gulp.

“What are you wearing today for the conference?” asked Draco, sipping on his tea.

“Well I only have the clothes I wore yesterday. That should be fine.” shrugged Harry.

Draco’s jaw dropped, “No, absolutely not. That’s disgusting Harry. You can borrow something of mine.”

“Draco, in case you haven’t noticed, you and I are not even close to being the same size.” said Harry.

“Harry. We’re wizards. We have magic. I’m sure we can work something out.” said Draco, rolling his eyes.

Harry was actually surprised at himself that he still did things like that. Forget he had magic and he could basically do anything that Muggles couldn’t. Like get someone else's clothes to fit you.

“Come on, we’ll see what I have.” said Draco, and walked back to his room with Harry following right behind him.

Harry wasn’t at all surprised that Draco had a walk in closet with rows of clothes and shoes and ties. Draco was always very well dressed. That was another thing Harry was impressed with because he could never be bothered to look good or even care about what he wore. He didn’t even own a quarter of what Draco owned.

Draco quickly walked in and started to rummage through all his clothes and Harry decided to let him take the reins on this one and just wait until he was told to put on the clothes.

After a few minutes, Draco had a pair of trousers, a belt, a shirt, a jacket and shoes in his hands, “Alright, let’s get these on you so we can shrink them down to your size.”

Draco beamed, as if the thought of Harry being smaller than him was something to make fun of. Which Harry understood, he was very short for his age, sadly.

Harry rolled his eyes but followed Draco out of the closet and back into his room where Draco began handing Harry articles of clothing. First, it was the trousers. Then Harry took off his shirt and buttoned up the white one that Draco gave him. Then he put on a black jacket and stepped into a pair of shoes that were a size too big for him.

Draco stood back and instantly laughed at him, “You look ridiculous.”

“Well, I won’t once you make these into my size.” said Harry.

Draco waited a few moments and reached over to grab his wand on his nightstand and pointed it at Harry. With a wave, Harry felt the clothes restrict and they became form fitting.

“Much better.” said Draco, admiring his handy work.

Harry looked into the full length mirror Draco had on the inside of his door and saw that the trousers made his short legs look long and the shirt and jacket made him look broad, but in a good way. Harry was satisfied about how he looked, not that he even really cared.

“Now that you’re taken care of, I’m going to shower and get changed and then we can go.” said Draco.

Harry nodded, “We’re meeting up with everyone before hand.”

Draco nodded and bent down and kissed Harry on the lips and walked off into the bathroom.

Harry would never admit it, but that man gave him butterflies every time he came near him.

* * *

 

At 8:20AM, both Harry and Draco were ready to go. Draco took longer to get ready because he did his hair. Harry never bothered with his hair because it never did what it was supposed to anyways. Draco said he liked the messy look that his hair had, which made Harry blush.

When they arrived at the Ministry, the saw dozens of reporters waiting for them and they quickly all swarmed him and Draco. They pushed and shoved their way through, trying not lose one another in the chaos.

“Hey! Watch out!” yelled Jones, creating a pathway for Harry and Draco to walk through so they could get past the barrier.

“Thank you.” said Harry. He did not expect that as a welcome.

“No problem. I hope that whatever you got planned here will fix this all up.” grunted Jones, looking around at the reporters.

“We hope so too, sir.” said Harry.

“Well, I’m going to go to our floor. Good luck, Potter. Malfoy.”

With that, Jones was off to their Department, Harry silently glad that he wasn’t going to witness the conference.

“Harry!”

Harry spun around and saw Hermione heading straight towards them with Ron, Luna, Neville, Ginny, and George right behind her.

“This is all we could round up last minute mate, I hope it’s enough.” said Ron.

“No, this is perfect. Thank you all for coming. This means a lot to me and Draco.” said Harry, glancing at Draco who seemed to be in shock.

“I’ll admit, Harry, I was shocked knowing that you are Malfoy here were involved but I figured now would finally be the time to tease you about shagging someone.” said George, with a huge grin on his face.

Harry smiled, “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“I can’t believe someone just spied on your guys’ date like that. Bloody bastards.” said Neville, shaking his head.

“Harry, have you thought about what you’re going to say?” asked Hermione, looking frantic.

Harry groaned inwardly, of course he hadn’t.

“A little bit yeah, I know what I want to get out there.” said Harry, as a feeble attempt to cover up that he actually hadn’t thought about it much at all. His plan was to wing it and hope that what he wants to say will come out.

“Harry, you know how important this conference is!” said Hermione, chastising him.

“Look, I know what I want to get across to them. It’ll be fine.” said Harry.

Hermione didn’t look convinced but nodded and decided not to argue with Harry on the fact.

“How are you, Draco?” asked Luna.

Draco looked like he was caught off guard, “I’m well, despite the obvious.”

“Yes, it is ashamed that people know all about your relationship when everyone thinks you are an evil Death Eater.” said Luna, putting it bluntly like she always did.

“Uh, yes, it is.” said Draco, not used to Luna and the way she spoke her mind.

“Well, Harry, if you don’t know what you’re going to say, why not have Draco say a few things as well?” said Luna.

Harry honestly hadn’t thought of that, “Would you like to say something, Draco?”

“Do you want me to?” asked Draco.

“If you would like. If you’re uncomfortable with it, you don’t have to.”

Draco thought for a moment, “I think I would like to.”

“Okay,” he turned towards Ginny, “It’s good to see you.”

Ginny smiled at him, “You too, Harry. Ron firecalled me last night and told me everything. At first I was upset but I know you and I know you wouldn’t be doing this unless it was the right thing. I really want you to be happy, Harry.”

Harry felt his heart hammer in his chest, “Thank you, Ginny. It means a lot to me. I hope you’re happy. I know I haven’t been keeping in touch recently.”

“I am, very happy. I’m seeing someone.” said Ginny, blushing.

Harry, to his surprise and delight, did not have any hint of jealousy coursing through him, only genuine happiness that his friend was happy, “I’m happy for you.”

Just then Mike, from his Department, showed up with ten others behind him.

“Harry, this is everyone from the Department I could get right now. Some are out on runs and couldn’t be here. But we’re here to support you and Draco.” said Mike.

Harry swelled up at the people who were supporting him. Seven of his closest friends and ten of the people he works with all came to support him and Draco. He looked over and saw Draco’s face and could tell that he was overwhelmed by the support as well. He reached out, grabbed his hand, and gave it a squeeze. One that meant, “See? Look at all these people ready to stand up for you.”

Draco looked over at him and gave him a small smile, and squeezed Harry’s hand right back.

“So, what is our role, here?” asked Mike.

“Well, mainly you are here just as people that believe Draco is sorry for his actions when we were younger. We need to show them that there are people who believe him and maybe others will start, too. If you want to say something, you’re more than welcomed to.” said Harry.

Mike nodded and looked back at all of them and quickly was muttering to them. Harry turned to Draco, “Nervous?”

“A little. This is the first time we are being seen together publicly. Well, willingly, anyways. You?”

Harry nodded, “Yes, I am. But I think I know what I’m going to say. This is important to me.”

“Harry, it’s nine now, we should start.” said Hermione, nervously.

Harry nodded and began to move towards the middle of the floor, where he was overlooking dozens of reporters with cameras that have been going off ever since Draco and him first arrived.

His friends stood to the left of him, all lined up. Draco was the one right beside him, as it should be. On the other side of him, stood his friends from the Department.

He realized that even if no one else believed him, it would be okay because he didn’t need the whole Wizarding World to love him and accept him. Just the people on his side.

The reporters drew silent and waited for Harry to start.

“I have asked you to come here today because there was a recent article in The Prophet about Draco Malfoy and I. To put it bluntly, it was Draco and I on our first date. A few days ago, we did a interview with Rita Skeeter explaining Draco’s situation. I thought that maybe people would start to open up to the idea that Draco and I would be hanging around each other. I was wrong.

“But the reason why I am here today is to tell you all directly, Draco Malfoy is not who he was all those years ago. I have spent enough time with him to figure this out. I know you are all still worried and upset about the events that happened seven years ago during the war but the war is over. It is time to move on from it.

“Not only that, but I have something with Draco that I’ve never had with anyone else. It’s understanding of something that no one else could, being born with a title and something you had no control over. Draco did not choose what he was born into. But he is choosing now to be good and everyone deserves a chance at redemption.

“That night that is now known to everyone was one of the best nights of my life. We went to dinner, walked around London and snogged by the Thames. I had not planned to reveal to everyone that Draco and I were in a relationship until we were both sure that this was what we wanted but that person who followed us that night made it so we had to decide now.

“So here is the truth: I am Harry Potter and I am in a relationship with Draco Malfoy. He makes me happy. He’s smart and very kind. If you would all give him a chance, a chance to prove himself, he won’t disappoint. That is not to say that he isn’t human and he doesn’t make mistakes because we all do, but he is a good man. I can only hope you all can realize that, too.

“Now, I believe Draco wanted to add something?” said Harry, looking at Draco.

Draco looked at him and nodded and stepped forward, “I understand why you all are upset. I get that what I did several years ago was not okay. I get that I have hurt many people. But I promise I am trying to make up for it, that I won’t spend a day not making up for it. Harry has shown me that I can forgive myself for what I did. That I can move on and that was something I didn’t think I could ever do.

“He makes me happy. I can’t believe he chose me and I am thankful for it every day. I am in no position to ask anything from anyone but I am in a situation where I must: Please give me a chance. Even when I was a Death Eater, I did not want to be. Please understand that Voldemort named me a Death Eater to punish my father. Please understand that I grew up blinded by what my father taught me. I am not who I was before the war or during. I have learned many things, mainly from my fathers mistakes, and now I want to live my life as normally as I can. Thank you.”

Draco stepped back into the line with all of his friends and Neville stepped forward.

“If there’s anything I know about Harry, is that he’s kind, compassionate and stands up for what is right, no matter what. When I first found out about Harry and Draco, I was surprised but I know Harry and he doesn’t just do things that will harm anybody. I trust Harry with my life. He would never go out with Draco unless you truly believed and knew for certain that he had changed and is a good man.

“We put our faith in Harry when he had to defeat Voldemort. Have faith in him now. More important, have faith in Draco. He came from a Dark place in which not many can get out of. That takes strength and courage.

“An enemy is someone who wishes to do us harm. Draco Malfoy is no enemy. He is a friend and I will stand by his side, along with Harry.”

Neville stepped back and clapped Draco on the shoulder. Draco smiled at him and gave Neville’s shoulder a squeeze, too.

Mike then stepped forward: “I have been working with Mr. Potter for years now. He refuses to kill anybody. Only disarms. Only injured when he absolutely has to and will never leave a fellow Auror behind. These are all qualities of a good man. Harry Potter would never choose to be with someone who did not possess these same qualities.

“Also, we are Aurors. We know what Dark Wizards are like and the history of every Dark Wizard. Draco Malfoy is not a Dark Wizard. Most of the Death Eaters were either on Lord Voldemort’s side out of fear for their own lives or the wizards that were actually loyal were captured and sent to Azkaban. And to be quite honest, those wizards are very distraught and cause public disturbances. Neither of which Draco has done.

“The Auror Department is strong than ever. If Draco Malfoy was a threat, we would have had him in years ago. But he is not. Therefore, there is no reason why he should not be able to be in a relationship with whom he pleases or even be able to step out on the street. I agree with Mr. Potter, it is time we move on from the war.”

Mike stepped back and Harry was in awe of the overwhelming support from all of his friends. Everything they had said went right to Harry’s heart and he had never felt so loved in his life. Draco probably hadn’t either and he was glad that he was able to bring some of that into his life.

“If there are any questions, I would be happy to answer.” said Harry, which caused hands furiously to shoot in the air.

Harry was confused by all the hands but pointed to a short woman with brown hair and a long nose, “Mr. Potter, how do we know you are not under the Imperious Curse?”

“I am pretty sure you would all be able to tell if I was.” said Harry, annoyed.

“But there were followers of the Dark Lord who were under the Curse and no one knew.” said the woman, tilting her head.

“Harry has not in any way, acted unusual. If there was something even slightly off about him, someone would be able to tell because he works in the Ministry and since the War, we have more strict protocol than before. Harry is not under any Curse.” said Mike.

Other hands quickly shot in the air and Harry pointed to a tall, bald man, “Mr. Potter, how do you expect everyone to forgive and forget the events of the War? Is it because you are in love?”

Harry took a deep breath and remembered that he could not lose his temper, “We should not forget the War and the ones we lost in it. But we do need to forgive and move on from it. We cannot live in fear.”

George stepped forward, “I lost my brother in this War. My brother was my best mate. I couldn’t imagine my life without him until I was forced to. It took me awhile to get over the anger, but I did. And when I did, I realized that Fred was probably yelling at me from wherever he was to get my arse up and invent more stuff for our joke shop.

“He wouldn’t want me to be angry. He would want me to remember him and continue our work. So I did. I’m married and I have a kid and I know that wherever Fred is right now, I know he would agree with me in saying that even though Draco was an arsehole in school, to maybe prank the kid once when he’s least expecting it and forgive him.”

George smiled and stepped back. Harry was surprised that George spoke up but glad that he did.

Harry then pointed at a man who was rather short and had a mop full of black hair, “This is for Mr. Malfoy,” said the man in a scratchy voice, “How do you respond to the people saying that you are not worthy to be Harry Potter’s friend, let alone boyfriend?”

“I would say that I do not disagree. I don’t think I am very worthy either but Harry is convinced that I am. The selfish part of me lets him believe it because Harry is the best thing that has happened to me. I didn’t know it, when we were in school. I didn’t know much of anything. I was very ignorant. But I agree, I do not think I am worthy of him but I will be with him as long as he will have me.” said Draco.

“You better get used to me because I’m sticking around.” said Harry, under his breath.

Harry glanced at him and winked. Harry’s heart soared.

He then pointed to a blonde woman, “This question is for Ginny Weasley. Everyone is aware that you and Mr. Potter were involved some time ago, are you upset with his choice now? How does it feel to know he chose Mr. Malfoy over you?”

Ginny stepped forward and by the look of her face, Harry knew that she wasn’t going to be kind to this lady, “No, Harry did not choose Draco over me. Harry and I separated years ago before Draco was even in the picture. As for his choice, I am happy for Harry as long as he is happy. I know Harry and he would never be with someone who would cause harm to anyone. Draco is able to provide Harry with something that I couldn’t. Do not make this into a comparison because it isn’t.”

Harry smirked, loving this side of Ginny who was assertive and could make her point come across very clearly without question. He was pleased that things never became awkward with Ginny after they broke up. They realized it could never be because they were too close of friends and Harry hung around the Weasley's too much.

Harry was looking around for another person to call when a loud voice boomed, “I have a question. Why did I find out my son was in a relationship with Harry Potter from a newspaper?”

A woman in a black cloak emerged from the crowd and everyone went silent. Harry’s eyes bulged out of his head and he turned to Draco, whose face was as white as a sheet.

Standing there was Mrs. Malfoy, her head held high, eyebrows raised. Harry only had been in her company a few times prior and either of them were pleasant. He did not expect her to show up, or to even know what was going on.

“Mother?” said Draco, voice low.

Mrs. Malfoy crossed the barrier. No one tried to stop her.

“Hello, Draco.” said Mrs. Malfoy.

“What are you doing here?”

“Do you think I live in a cave? I get the Daily Prophet, too. I saw the article with you and Mr. Potter, here.” said Mrs. Malfoy, nodding her head towards Harry whose face immediately flushed.

“I- I didn’t know you read that.” said Draco.

“So it would seem. But I heard around that a press conference were to be held today. I was glad I could make it. I would like to say a few words. If that is okay with you, Mr. Potter?” asked Mrs. Malfoy.

Harry, too shocked to speak a reply, only nodded and gestured towards the crowd of reporters.

She turned around and cleared her throat. Harry now knew where Draco got the ability to make people listen to him, Mrs. Malfoy was even better at it.

“As you may know, my husband and I were involved with the Dark Lord when he was at large. Unfortunately, we learnt all too late that this was a mistake. My husband tried to get Draco and I away from that life, but the Dark Lord does not forget. Nor did he forgive my husband when he didn’t try to look for him when he went away for all those years.

“My husband did what he could to keep Draco and I safe. But the Dark Lord made it so he punished us by punishing our son. Making him a Death Eater and the task of killing which I knew my Draco was not capable of. As Draco grew older, I knew he was becoming into a better person than both myself and my husband. I did all I could to protect him from our mistakes.

“But of course, I could not and he has had to deal with the after effects of the war. Being shunned from other wizards when really, it was I who deserved it but Draco refused the protection the Ministry offered and gave it all to me. Draco is a good man.”

Mrs. Malfoy then turned to Harry, “Mr. Potter, you are the last person I expected Draco with but now I see, that it does make sense. You are able to see the good in people Harry and you see what I see in Draco. What everyone should see for themselves. I hope you two are very happy together.”

Harry smiled at her and she turned back to the reporters, “Draco did not do anything wrong. It was my fault. It was my husbands fault. We are responsible. Do not blame him for something that he had no control over. He was just a boy that got asked too much of. For me, it is too late to redeem myself but it is not for Draco.”

She turned around and moved towards Draco, putting her hand on his cheek and giving him a soft smile. He covered her hand with his and closed his eyes, “Thank you, mother.”

“I wanted to do right by you, just this once. I am so sorry for everything.” said Mrs. Malfoy, tears forming in her eyes.

“I forgive you.” said Draco.

Mrs. Malfoy’s shoulders relaxed, as if she had been waiting to hear that all of her life and moved towards Harry.

“Thank you for giving Draco this. For making him happy.” said Mrs. Malfoy.

“Of course. I will try to be there for him as much as I can.” promised Harry.

“I know you will,” she smiled and stepped back, “And to all of you who supported Draco and Harry, thank you.

“Draco, I expect to see you and Harry soon over at the Manor for dinner.” said Mrs. Malfoy, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, mother. As soon as we can.” promised Draco.

She nodded and turned her back and put up the hood of her cloak. She walked back into the crowd of reporters who parted to let her walk through and Harry watched her disappear.

After a few moments of stunned silence, “Well uh, thank you all for coming but I think that is all we have to say. I hope you all take these words in consideration.”

Harry then moved away and all of his friends followed him, cameras now snapping and flashing as they walked.

“I was not expecting that. At all.” said Draco.

“I wasn’t either but I think it might have helped.” said Harry, yawning.

“Tired?”

“Exhausted.” said Harry.

Harry saw Hermione move to his other side, “I have to say Harry, even though you did not plan for anything, you did rather well.”

“Why are you always surprised when I pull off things I never plan for?” asked Harry, smiling creeping through the serious demeanor he was trying to maintain.

“We all remember school, mate. Nothing ever went according to plan.” said Ron.

Harry nodded, agreeing with Ron. All of their plans either landed them almost dead or in detention. Sometimes both.

“Thank you all for coming. The support meant a lot to Draco and I.” said Harry, turning to everyone.

“Of course, mate. We’re all here for you both.” said Neville.

“Thank you, all of you.” said Draco.

“I like you, Draco. There’s something very pleasant about your presence. Almost calm.” said Luna.

“I’ve been told I have a very surprisingly calm demeanor.” said Draco, trying not to laugh. Harry nudged him with his shoulder but smiling while doing so.

“We got to get back to the Department, Harry, but we will see you soon. Are you going to come in today?” asked Mike, reaching out to shake his hand.

Harry grasped his hand in his, “No, I’m not working today. I’ll be in tomorrow though. Thank you for all of this. It means a lot.”

“Of course, Harry. See you soon.” said Mike, and he turned and walked away, followed by the others in the Department who all shook Harry’s hand.

Harry turned around to see that Draco was talking with George and he walked over to them, wanting to know what they were talking about.

“So, I’m thinking if you brew that potion, I could put it in with the project I’m working on and once I get it working, I can give you some of the profits.” said George.

“Why would you need a potion like that?” asked Draco.

“Well, school is going to be starting soon and we get loads of students who come in so they can stock up for the year. Students do whatever they can to get out of school work. Which is why I need a potion to make someone appear to be sick but not actually sick. See, we have Wheezes that make someone sick but no one fancies those. Do you think it could be possible?”

Draco thought for a moment, “Yes. Potions basically can do anything with the right ingredients. Changing someone’s appearance shouldn’t be too difficult. Are you going to put them in food or a drink?”

“Food, most likely. That way they can blame it on the breakfast or something.” said George.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can brew and I’ll owl you.” said Draco.

“Thanks, mate! Fred always wanted to do something like this but of course, never got around to it and I didn’t revisit the idea until recently. But then I heard you were shagging Harry here and it looks like fate just wanted this to happen.” said George, smiling brightly at Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes but grinned fondly at George, happy that he was doing something in honor of his brother. Fred’s death was without a doubt hardest on him because they did everything together and were closer than anyone in the family. He literally lost his other half. But he was glad to see him moving on more and more as the years progressed.

“Well, then I am honored that I can help you with it.” said Draco, solemnly.

“You really aren’t all that bad, Draco. Although I still probably will prank you when you come up for Christmas. It just seems fair.” said George.

“Christmas?” asked Draco.

George shrugged, “Harry comes over for Christmas every year. I’m sure you want to spend it with him by mum will insist you both come.”

“George, Draco probably spends Christmas with his mum.” said Harry.

“Actually, I don’t really need to. I’ll visit her but if your mum will have me over later in the day, that would be lovely. It gets boring when it’s just and my mother. She doesn’t say very much.” said Draco.

“Well, then, it’s settled.” said George.

“Yeah, that sounds great.” said Harry, already looking forward to Christmas even though it was still summer.

He didn’t even know if he and Draco would still be together come Christmas but he didn’t want to think about that. He decided he was going to take this one day at a time with Draco, not rushing a single thing.

Besides, Harry was promised an amazing second date.

“Well, Harry, we’re going to do get Elizabeth and take her home. If you need anything else, just let us know.” said Ron.

“No worries, you guys have already done so much. Thank you.” said Harry, and gave Ron a hug.

“Bye, Harry!” said Hermione and gave him a hug as well.

Ron shook hands with Draco and Hermione actually gave him a hug as well and a light kiss on the cheek. Ron gave George a hug and a clap on the back, promising to see him soon.

Harry smiled and waved to them as they walked off into the fire place that apparated them to the Burrow.

“We’re going to get going too, Harry. It was nice to see both of you.” said Luna, who arrived with Neville.

“You, too, Luna. And thank you Neville, for what you said. It was very nice of you.” said Harry.

“Of course, Harry. We’re always going to support you.” said Neville and shook his hand.

Luna gave him and Draco a kiss on the cheek, as well as George and disappeared into the fire as well.

“I suppose that’s my queue to leave, too. I’ll see you later, Harry and I’ll keep in touch, Draco.” said George.

“Okay, I’ll let you know once I’ve come up with something.” said Draco and shook his hand.

George waved and turned to make his leave as well.

Harry sighed and turned to Draco, “Can we lay on the couch for the rest of the day and do absolutely nothing but snog?”

“You are a brilliant man with even more brilliant ideas.” said Draco, smiling and taking Harry’s hand.

Harry rolled his eyes affectionately, “You just wait, Draco. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

They walked into the fire together.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I could go further with this work, but my schooling and responsibilities keep me from doing so. Perhaps if I get enough feedback, I will try to produce another chapter, but for now, it is going to be a finished work.


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